Piper flexuosum

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Piper flexuosum

Description

Shrub to 2? m tall. Stem densely crisp- pubescent. Petiole 0.5 cm long, crisp-pubescent, vaginate to apex; blade not scabrous, glandular-dotted, elliptic, 8-13 x 3.5-5.5 cm, apex acute, base almost equally attached to petiole, unequally obtuse or acute, glabrous except for veins crisp-pubescent below; pinnately veined, secondary veins 5-7 per side, originating from throughout primary vein, prominent below, tertiary veins inconspicuously reticulate. Inflorescence erect or slightly curved; peduncle 0.5 cm long, crisp-pubescent; spike 4-6 cm long, 0.4-0.5 cm thick, apiculate; floral bracts densely marginally fringed. Fruits depressed globose or ovoid, glabrous, stigmas sessile.

Distribution

French Guiana present, Guyana present
Guyana and French Guiana (GU: 3; FG: 2).

Notes

“Demerara”, Parker s.n. in Herbarium Hookerianum (Kew) is not the type of Piper flexuosum.
A later homonym exists: P. flexuosum J. Jacq., Eclog. Pl. Rar. 1: 139, t. 93. 1816. Miquel (1844) created much confusion when transferring both species to Artanthe. For Jacquin's species he made the combination A. flexuosa Miq., nom illeg. (p. 454), whereas for the oldest species he chose a new epithet: A. flexicaulis Miq., nom. illeg. (p. 533).