Piper cuniculorum Trel. & Yunck.

Trujillo, William, Jaramillo, M. Alejandra, Toro, Diego & Balslev, Henrik, 2023, Over- and under-described: new species, new synonyms, and a new name in the megadiverse genus Piper (Piperaceae) on the east Andean slopes, Phytotaxa 601 (3), pp. 263-284 : 279

Piper cuniculorum Trel. & Yunck. , The Piperaceae of northern South America 1: 234. 1950.

Type:— COLOMBIA: Putumayo, Colombia–Ecuador border, near the confluence of the San Miguel and Conejo rivers, 300 m, J . Cuatrecasas 10906 (holotype US!, isotype ILL!) .

= Piper papillicaule Trel. & Yunck. , The Piperaceae of northern South America 1: 224. 1950. Type :— COLOMBIA: Putumayo, Colombia– Ecuador border at the intersection of rivers San Miguel and Conejo , 300 m, J. Cuatrecasas 10917 (holotype US!, isotype COL!) syn. nov.

Comments:—In the The Piperaceae of northern South America ( Trelease & Yuncker 1950) both P. cuniculorum Trel. & Yunck. (1950:234) and P. papillicaule Trel. & Yunck. (1950:224) are described as having leaves that are less than 20 cm long, pinnately nerved from the lower half of the midvein, and glabrous on both sides. Both species were separated from other species in the diagnosis and the key by the combination of having 4–5 secondary nerves on each side, bracts peltate and short-fringed, and 10 cm long spikes. In addition, other characters are shared by the two species, for example, both have glabrous leaves, discrete papillae on the internodes as seen on type specimens, even if not mentioned in the description, and they are pinnately nerved from the lower half of the midvein, their spikes are 2–4 mm thick × 10 cm long and their fruits are obpyriform with sessile stigmas. Detailed examination of the two type collections revealed their similarities except for the length of the internodes (2–6 cm long in P. papillicaule vs. 1.5–3.5 cm long in P. cuniculorum ), which is a character that varies with age of the branch or the nodes. Additionally, the type specimens of both P. cuniculorum and P. papillicaule were collected at the Colombia – Ecuador border at the junction of the rivers San Miguel and Conejo. Our conclusion is that there are no consistent morphological characters that justify a separation of two species, and thus P. papillicaule is synonymized under P. cuniculorum . Since both names were published in the same publication, we selected P. cuniculorum as the accepted name because it has the most complete type specimen.

Distribution and habitat:—This species is distributed along the slopes of the Andes towards the Amazon in Colombia and Ecuador, at 300–1100 m elevation in Tropical premontane wet forests (TPwf). It is a heliophilous species that grows along roadsides.

Additional specimens examined: — COLOMBIA: Caquetá, Florencia, near Universidad de la Amazonia, 1°36’23.45”N, 75°39’59”W, 270 m, 14 September 2009, J . Alzate 8 ( HUAZ!); First bridge in urban area, middle basin of Hacha river , 1°38’707”N, 75°36’978”W, 318 m, 28 March 2005, C . Blanco et al. 267 ( HUAZ!). Puerto Rico, trail to San Rafael, Buena Vista farm, 1340 m, 1°54’21.7”N, 75°15’40.4”W, 23 March 2002, J . Díaz et al. 370 ( COAH!); Trail to La Estrella, Pensilvania farm, 550 m, 1°56’14.5”N, 75°12’32.3”W, 22 March 2002, M . Correa et al. 3040 ( COAH!). San Vicente del Caguan: Road from Neiva to trail to Campanas , 725 m, 2°33’50”N, 74°45’26”W, 04 January 2011, W . Trujillo et al. 1801 ( COAH!) .