Piper paramaribense
Content
Description
Small shrub, sometimes trailing, to 1 m tall. Stem hirsute. Stipules long persistent. Petiole 0.5 cm long, hirsute, vaginate to middle; blade slightly bullate to smooth, coriaceous and silvery shiny or membranous, glandular-dotted, lance-elliptic, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, 7-17 x 2.5-6 cm, apex short-acuminate, maybe somewhat obtuse, base equal or unequally attached to petiole difference at most 0.1 cm, cuneate to obtusish, rounded or subcordate, glabrous but veins appressed-pubescent below; pinnately veined, secondary veins (7-)8-12 per side, originating from throughout primary vein, impressed above, prominulous to strongly prominent below, tertiary veins transverse. Inflorescence erect; peduncle 0.5-1 cm long, glabrous or hirsute; spike 2-4 cm long, yellow or green, apiculate; floral bracts cucullate and pilose on inner side and at base, rachis pubescent. Infructescence erect, to 7 cm long, to 1 cm thick, green; fruits globose or obovoid, 3 mm in diam., glabrous, green, stigmas 3, linear, erect, may give impression of a style, obsolete on fruit.
Notes
Piper maguirei has been described from a young specimen having membranous leaves, whereas P. paramaribense has coriaceous leaves. Comparing the type collection and the descriptions of P. maguirei and of P. paramaribense there seems to be no reason to keep the two taxa separate. The texture of the leaves, however, can not be maintained as a differentiating character when we find in Irwin et al. 55853 similar thin leaves together with characteristic coriaceous ones.
Piper fockei was described from a specimen that C. DC. had included in P. hostmannianum var. berbicense; C. DC. had misread Focke's name as Forbes. Comparing the type and other P. fockei collections with those of P. paramaribense and checking the descriptions I could see no distinguishing characters and decided to synonimize P. fockei under P. paramaribense. The protologue of the latter was somewhat incomplete and has been completed with the material now available. The plants are easily recognisable by the long-persistent stipules, silvery shiny leaves (in dried state) with strongly prominent veins below, and slightly stylose ovaries.
Piper fulgidum Yunck. from Amapá, Brazil is similar to P. paramaribense. I have not yet studied the type collection of the former; I suppose, however, that they are conspecific.
Yuncker (1957: 259) considered P. pertinax Trel. & Yunck. as a synonym of P. paramaribense. Because P. pertinax is a nom. nov. for P. affine (Miq.) C. DC. 1869, non P. affine M. Martens & Galeotti 1843, its type is the type of the basionym, Artanthe affinis Miq. The type of the latter, however, is not known. In Miquel's series of publications on Focke specimens from Suriname () he does not mention any Focke number. Yuncker (l.c. 260) lists under P. paramaribense a Focke 710 specimen from Vredenburger Zandrits, the locality that Miquel mentioned. Focke 710 in U, however, belongs to P. avellanum.
Piper fockei was described from a specimen that C. DC. had included in P. hostmannianum var. berbicense; C. DC. had misread Focke's name as Forbes. Comparing the type and other P. fockei collections with those of P. paramaribense and checking the descriptions I could see no distinguishing characters and decided to synonimize P. fockei under P. paramaribense. The protologue of the latter was somewhat incomplete and has been completed with the material now available. The plants are easily recognisable by the long-persistent stipules, silvery shiny leaves (in dried state) with strongly prominent veins below, and slightly stylose ovaries.
Piper fulgidum Yunck. from Amapá, Brazil is similar to P. paramaribense. I have not yet studied the type collection of the former; I suppose, however, that they are conspecific.
Yuncker (1957: 259) considered P. pertinax Trel. & Yunck. as a synonym of P. paramaribense. Because P. pertinax is a nom. nov. for P. affine (Miq.) C. DC. 1869, non P. affine M. Martens & Galeotti 1843, its type is the type of the basionym, Artanthe affinis Miq. The type of the latter, however, is not known. In Miquel's series of publications on Focke specimens from Suriname () he does not mention any Focke number. Yuncker (l.c. 260) lists under P. paramaribense a Focke 710 specimen from Vredenburger Zandrits, the locality that Miquel mentioned. Focke 710 in U, however, belongs to P. avellanum.