Piper guianense

Primary tabs

Piper guianense

Description

Small shrub, often scrambling, rooting at lower nodes. Stem ribbed, glabrous, younger parts sparsely pubescent. Petiole 0.7-1.5 cm long, sparsely pubescent or glabrescent, vaginate to apex; blade not scabrous, somewhat glandular-dotted below, narrowly ovate to ovate, 5-8(-13) x 1.5-3.5(-6.3) cm, margin ciliate towards apex, apex acute to acuminate, base equal, obtuse, truncate, rounded or subacute, glabrous except sparsely minutely pubescent veins above, minutely crisp-pubescent on veins below; pinnately veined, secondary veins 4-5(-7) per side, originating from lower 1/3 or more of primary vein, 2 originating from base, tertiary venation reticulate obsolete above, slightly visible below, primary vein slightly impressed above, prominulous below. Inflorescence erect; peduncle filiform, to 3(-4) cm long, sparsely pubescent; spike 1-1.7 cm long, 1.5 mm wide, apiculate; floral bracts rounded to cucullate, sparsely fringed, with central dark gland; anthers dehiscing laterally; ovary glabrous. Fruits without style, stigmas 3?, sessile.

Distribution

French Guiana present, Guyana present, N Brazil present, Southern America: Peru (Peru present); Venezuela (Venezuela present)
Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, N Brazil and Peru; 6 collections studied (GU: 4; FG: 2).

Notes

When Miquel in 1844 published Artanthe peduncularis, and as a synonym mentioned A. schomburgkii Klotzsch Mss., he did not realize that the latter had been published already in 1841, also described from Ro. Schomburgk ser. I, 696. I have studied the type collections of A. schomburgkii and compared them with the type collections and description of P. guianense. In my opinion the differences are too small to maintain A. schomburgkii (for which the combination in Piper never was published). Neither De Candolle nor Trelease and Yuncker give any additional collections, whereas P. guianense is reported from several parts of northern S America.