Piper perstipulare
Content
Description
Shrub to 1.5-4 m tall. Stem glabrous. Stipules 4-7 cm long, glabrous, upper ones subpersistent. Petiole (0.5-)1-4.5 cm long, glabrous, vaginate to apex, margin enlarged; blade not scabrous, densely glandular-dotted below, narrowly elliptic to elliptic-ovate, 16-27 x 7-13(-14.5) cm, margin ciliolate, apex acuminate, base equal or unequally attached to petiole difference 0-0.3 cm, obtuse to rounded, glabrous, but veins sparsely to densely appressed or crisp-pubescent below; pinnately veined, secondary veins 6-7 per side, originating from lower 2/3 of primary vein, flat above, prominulous below, lower 2-3 ascending horizontally or at an angle of 45ยบ, upper ones ascending near margin but hardly anastomosing towards top, tertiary veins reticulate and transverse between secondaries. Inflorescence erect; peduncle 1-2 cm long, glabrous; spike 7-9.5 cm long, greenish white to white, apiculate; floral bracts subtriangular, densely marginally fringed. Infructescence to 11.5 cm long; fruits trigonous or ovoid, glabrous, verruculose, stigmas 3, recurved, sessile.
Distribution
French Guiana present, Guyana present, Southern America: Venezuela (Venezuela present)
Venezuela, Guyana and French Guiana; 18 collections studied (GU: 16; FG: 2).
Notes
Piper perstipulare can be distinguished from P. coruscans and P. glabrescens, two other species with rather long-petioled leaves and relatively few secondary veins, by the following combination of characters: It has floral bracts that are densely marginally fringed and leaves that are appressed pubescent on the veins below, whereas P. glabrescens has glabrous floral bracts and the leaves below glabrescent. In P. perstipulare, the upper secondary veins ascend distinctly to the apex without anastomosing, whereas in P. coruscans they anastomose before reaching the apex. A striking difference with P. coruscans is that the stipules are longer than the petioles, whereas in P. coruscans they are shorter. Piper perstipulare has transverse tertiary veins, whereas P. coruscans has a less regular pattern.