Piper jenkinsii C. DC. Candollea

Mukherjee, Prasanta Kumar, 2018, Nomenclatural notes on Piper Linn. (Piperaceae) from India II, Phytotaxa 338 (1), pp. 17-32 : 21

9. Piper jenkinsii C. DC. Candollea 2: 212. 1925.

TYPE: — INDIA, Assam: Assam, Jenkins s.n., (holotype CAL!—as to lower left one; isotype G-DC [ G00315910 ! –pencilled sketch of the leaf by C. DC.]) .

Distribution:— INDIA: Assam.

Note:— The specimen at CAL has C. DC.’s annotation and is considered as the holotype of the species. There are two distinct specimens on it, differing from each other in leaves. The lower left one is Piper jenkinsii with a detached female spike and the top right one with male spikes can be identified as Piper chuvya Miq. (1943: 267) . Casimir de Candolle (loc. cit.) included the description of the male spike present on another specimen (CAL, 379460). This second specimen is with twigs of two different species. The twigs at the centre and on the right have leaves and male spikes of P. jenkinsii . On the right, there is a very long female spike with sub-pedicellate fruits, decurrent bracts and a detached leaf. The leaf looks similar to that of the holotype of P, crassistipes C. DC. (1925: 214) (= P. rhytidocarpum Hook. f. (1886: 92) at BO having a male spike as well as the drawing given by C. de Candolle at G-DC (G00329644 image). The annotation by de Candolle on the sheet at CAL is missing (probably lost during preservation as the lower part of the sheet is torn). It matches the description of P. crassistipes based on the presence of decurrent, adnate bracts and is presumably an isotype of that name. This species differs from P. rhytidocarpum because the leaves have suprabasal nerves that are pinnately disposed and the fruits have a thickened pseudo-pedicel. The rachis of the female spike is straight, thickened, and, with more or less 30 cm, the longest of all the Piper species from India.