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Piper pseudonigrum
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Family:
PIPERACEAE
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Citation: Piper pseudonigrum Velayudhan & Amal., Journ. Econ. Tax. Bot. 16: 247. 1992.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Robust shrubby climbers, stem terete, glabrous but rough, swollen at nodes; branching after attaining some height. Leaves alternate, up to 22 x 15.5 cm, very broadly ovate, coriaceous and glabrous on both sides, dorsally shiny and ventrally glaucous, apex acuminate, base rounded and equal, three pairs of prominent lateral veins, the two lower pairs almost opposite and upper pair alternate at about 3.5 cm. Male spike up to 20 cm long, purple to greenish purple, drooping, peduncle 2 mm thick with minute hairs. Flowers in the form of hemispherical receptacles or small cups held on thin pedicels born alternately and perpendicular to the axis; pedicel and outer surface of the bracts sparsely and minutely hairy. Flowers 3.5 mm (pedicel 1.5 mm). Stamens two and anthers two-celled, protruding like two eyes from hemispherical cup, dehiscence linear. Female spike also purple to greenish purple, drooping, up to 10 cm, peduncle up to 2.4 cm, glabrous; ovary spherical subtended by a cupular bract having minute hairs; stigma sessile, 3-4 lobed, lobes short and papillate. Fruits ripening through yellow to red, less pungent than that of P. nigrum, ca. 0.8 mm across.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
February-May
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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