Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Piper hederaceum var. longiorispicum Spokes


Vine
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Fruits. © CSIRO
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Vine stem transverse section. © CSIRO
Family

Spokes, T.M. (2007) Flora of Australia 2: 458. Type: Queensland, Windsor Tableland, 5 Oct. 1971, B. Hyland 5538. Holo: BRI. Iso: NSW, QRS.

Stem

Vine stem diameters to 6 cm recorded.

Leaves

Leaf blades about 7-10.5 x 3.5-7.5 cm, petioles about 0.7-2 cm long. Stipules caducous.

Flowers

Male flowers: not known. Female flowers: Inflorescence about 20-70mm mm long. Flowers about 12-15 mm long, each flower subtended by a peltate scale or bract which fills the space between the flowers. Ovary green. Stigmas white, 2-5-lobed.

Fruit

Fruits aggregated into loose heads about 25-30 mm long. Individual fruits ellipsoid, about 4.5-7 x 3.5 mm on a stalk about 3-6 mm long. Seeds ellipsoid, about 3.5-4 x 3 mm. Embryo about 0.2-0.3 mm long. Cotyledons shorter than the radicle.

Seedlings

Cotyledons ovate, about 17-18 x 11-14 mm, apex mucronate. First pair of leaves cordate, apex acute or mucronate, base auriculate, densely clothed with hairs on the upper surface. Venation palmate. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade cordate, apex acute, upper and lower surfaces densely clothed in short hairs. Venation palmate. Oil dots orbicular and elongated. Stipules glabrous, about 13 mm long, enclosing the terminal bud and leaving an elongated triangular scar on the upper surface of the petiole. Seed germination time 54 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 100-1200 m. Grows in lowland and upland rain forest.

Synonyms
Piper novae-hollandiae var. Windsor Tableland (B.P. Hyland 5538), Names Distribution Queensland Plants, Algae & Lichens : 145(2002). Piper sp. aff. caninum Blume, Climbing Plants of Australia : 305(1988). Piper sp. (Windsor Tableland BH 5538), Australian Tropical Rain Forest Plants, Trees, Shrubs & Vines : (2003).
RFK Code
2086
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