Brittonia, 41(3), 1989, pp. 325-327.

9 1989, by the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126

S T U D I E S IN N E O T R O P I C A L PIPERACEAE I. A N E W SPECIES OF
PIPER FROM ECUADOR

RICARDO CALLEJAS

Callejas, Ricardo (Herbario, Departamento de Biologia, Universidad de Antio-

quia, Apart,ado A6reo 1226, Medellin, Colombia). Studies in Neotropical Piper-
aceae I. A new species of Piper from Ecuador. Brittonia 41: 325-327. 1 9 8 9 . -
Piper truman-yunckeri, a new species from eastern Ecuador, is described, illus-
trated, and contrasted with related taxa.

During the last two decades, exploration and intensive plant collecting in Ec-
uador have yielded a considerable number of new taxa and numerous new records,
in the Piperaceae. Since the last treatment of the Piperaceae for northern South
America (Trelease & Yuncker, 1950), the number of species known for Ecuador
has increased by almost 100. I estimate the total of Piperaceae for Ecuador at
380 to 400 species. I here describe a new species from the province of Napo in
eastern Ecuador; this is illustrated and its relationships are discussed.

Piper truman-yunckeri Callejas, sp. nov. (Fig. 1)

Frutex parvus 0.8-1 m usque altus, pauciramosus. Ramuli dense longe villosi. Folia Ionge petiolata,
petiolo 3--4 cm Iongo, dense longe villoso; lamina 20-22 cm longa, 12-14 em lata, ovato-elliptica vel
late ovata, basi obtusa vel cordiformis, plerumque punctata, supra glabra, infra ad nervos et margine
d e n s e pilosa, pills ramosis. Inflorescentia axillaris 2.1--4.3 cm longa. Pedunculus 2-2.6 cm longus,
1.5-2 mm diametro, ebracteatus, dense longe villosu'~-s~. Androecium tetrandrum. Stylus 3--4 mm longus.

Subshrub, 0.8-1 m tall, sparingly branched. Internodes el 4.7 cm long, 3.5--4.5

mm diam, densely long-villous, covered by simple, uniseriately 10-15-celled, soft,
flexible, white trichomes. Leaves long-petiolate, the petiole 3-4 cm long, densely
long-villous, with prominent, caducous stipular margins that extend the full length
of the petiole. Lamina elliptic-ovate to wide-ovate, 20-22 x 12-14 cm, apically
shortly acute, basally obtuse to cordiform, the basal lobes shorter than the petiole;
venation pinnate, the 9 or 10 pairs of major secondary veins arising throughout
the length of the midvein, impressed above, raised beneath; blade dotted through-
out with raised glands, glabrous above, densely short-pilose beneath along the
veins, covered by 6-10-celled, rigid, branched, 2-4-armed, often Y- or T-shaped
trichomes, pilose along the margins (trichomes branched), chartaceous when dry,
dark green on both faces. Shoot apex at first enclosed within the sheathing leaf
base at all nodes. Prophyll not seen. Inflorescence axillary, emerging from within
the prophyll and free from the leaf base, erect at all stages, white in flower, green
in fruit. Peduncle 2-2.6 cm long, 1.5-2 mm diam, ebracteate, densely long-villous.
Rachis 2.1-4.3 cm long, 2.1-7.6 mm diam, obscured by the flowers, rigid, short-
pilose. Floral bracts wide-deltate as seen from above, 0.5-1 mm wide, marginally
short-fimbriate, centrally glabrous, not forming bands around the spike. Flowers
tightly congested, tetramerous; anthers 0.2-0.3 mm broad and 0.1 mm long,
laterally dehiscent, the connective protruding above the anthers and glandular-
dotted at the top; pistil with a long, terete style, 3-4 mm long, glabrous. Fruit
ovoid to obovoid, 1-2.3 mm diam, apically long-styled, glabrous, eglandular.
TYPE: ECUADOR. NAPO: San Pablo de los Secoyas, N de la poblaci6n, margen
izquierda del Rio Aguarico, 4 Jul 1980 fir), J. Jaramillo & F. Coello 2796 (HOLOTYPE:
QCA; ISOTYPE: AAU).
PASAT'~E: ECUADOR. NAPO: Rio Eno, NE de Shushufindi, 0*I0'S, 76"40'W, 300 m, 11 Apt 1982
(fl), 11. Balslev 2341 (QCA).
326 BRITTONIA [VOL. 41

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it

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j'

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/ ,1 7 ~: / c
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I~lo. 1. Piper truman-yunckeri (Jaramillo & Coello 2796, QCA). A. Upper stem. B. Fruit, x 2. C.
View of the floral bract from above, x 3. D. Stamen, x 2. E. Flora diagram. F. Stem vesture, • 18. G.
Branched trichomes along the leaf margin, x 18.

Distribution: Piper truman-yunckeri is a small shrub confined to the lowland

Amazonian forests of eastern Ecuador where it is known from two collections
from the province o f Napo.
Ecology: H u m i d tropical forests, between 300 and 600 meters. According to
Jaramillo & Coello (No. 2796), the species is an abundant understory shrub o f
1989] CALLF_JAS"PIPER TRUMAN-YUNCKERI 327

riparian forests where several species of palm are a dominant element of the
canopy. Other species of Piper collected from the same area are: P. leticianum
C.DC., P. maranyonense Trel., and P. soledadense Trel.
Local name: " pu'pu hueco" (Secoya).
Piper truman-yunckeri is readily distinguished from other Ecuadorean species
by axillary inflorescences, long styles (3-4 mm), long-villous stems, petioles, and
peduncles, and by branched trichomes on the lower surface and margins of the
leaf. The combination of axillary inflorescences and branched trichomes distin-
guishes P. truman-yunckeri from all other known species of Piper. It belongs to
a group of four closely related species, P. asterotrichum C.DC., P. brachipilum
Yuncker, P. stellipilum (Miq.) C.DC., and P. tridentipilum C.DC.
The aforementioned group of four species is characterized by long-petiolate (3-
7 cm) and pinnately nerved leaves, laminae glandular-dotted on both faces, gla-
brous above but with a stellate indumentum along the veins beneath, wide deltate
floral bracts, and short (0.5-1 mm) to long (2-4 ram) styles.
Piper truman-yunckeri is most closely related to P. brachipilum, but is distin-
guished by shorter (2.1-4.3 vs 10-15 cm), axillary inflorescences and an obtuse
leaf-base.
The name of the species commemorates Truman George Yuncker, who did
much taxonomic work on the Neotropical Piperaceae, and whose vast knowledge
of the family contributed greatly to a better understanding of diversity in this
group.

Acknowledgments
I thank the curators of AAU and QCA for the generous loan of specimens. I
am very grateful to the New York Botanical Garden, which supported my study
ofEcuadorean Piperaceae as well as the preparation and publication of this paper;
and to the artist, Consuelo Garcia, for the illustration.

Literature Cited
Trelease, W. & T. G. Yuncker. 1950. The Piperaceaeof Northern South America. Univ. Illinois
Press, Urbana.

BOOK REVIEW

The Flowers of Paradise. The Institutionalized Use of the Drug Qat in North
Yemen. By John G. Kennedy. D. Reidel Publishing Company. Available from
Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 989, 3300 AZ Dordrecht, The
Netherlands. tSBN 1-55608-011-5. 1987. 268 pp. $64 (cloth).
This is a fascinating interdisciplinary account of the ethnobotany, anthropology,
politics, and pharmacology of the drug Qat (Catha edulis Forssk., Celastraceae)
in North Yemen. Qat, a mild stimulant, chewing drug made from the leaves of
the plant, is a basic part of Yemeni culture as well as that of other nations in the
vicinity of the Red Sea. Apart from learning about an economic plant with which
I was unfamiliar, I found this book difficult to put down as I read about the culture
and social life of North Yemen. It is a pity that such an interesting culture appears
to be in such an unstable political condition. I recommend this book as good
reading and as an exemplary model of an interdisciplinary ethnobotanical study.--
GHILLEAN T. PRANCE, New York Botanical Garden.