Piper fanshawei

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Piper fanshawei

Description

Small shrub to 2 m tall. Stem glabrous. Petiole 1-2 cm long, glabrous, vaginate below middle; blade not scabrous, not glandular- but finely pellucid-dotted, elliptic(-oblong), 10-14 x 3-4.5 cm; margin not ciliate, apex acuminate, base equal or unequally attached to petiole difference 0.2 cm, acute, glabrous; pinnately veined, secondary veins 5-6 per side, originating from throughout primary vein, plane or inconspicuous above, slightly prominulous below, tertiary veins inconspicuous. Inflorescence erect; peduncle filiform, 1-1.5 cm long; spike 2 cm long, apiculate; floral bracts dorsally fringed, crowded. Fruits obovoid, puberulent at depressed apex, stigmas sessile.

Distribution

Guyana present
Only known from Guyana; ca. 9 collections studied (GU: 9).

Notes

Glabrous plants with pubescent fruits mark the species. It is difficult to identify collections without mature fruits.
Piper fanshawei can easily be mistaken for P. cuyunianum Steyerm. (1984: 391) from SW Venezuela, but differs in having pubescent fruits whereas P. cuyunianum has glabrous fruits.
Piper fanshawei differs from P. bolivaranum in the wider leaves: in P. fanshawei 3-4.5 cm wide, in P. bolivaranum 0.7-1.5 cm; P. bolivaranum also has glabrous — not pubescent — fruits.