Piper melchior
Common name
Three Kings Kawakawa
Synonyms
Macropiper melchior Sykes
Family
Piperaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Chromosome number
2n = 26
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: CD, IE
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: CD, IE
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE
2004 | Range Restricted
Brief description
Fleshy shrub with jointed green twigs bearing large wrinkled dark green glossy heart-shaped fleshy leaves with hard green flower spikes inhabiting South West and West Islands of the Three Kings Islands. Leaves veins radiating from stalk, slightly peppery to taste. Fruit orange, not closely-packed.
Distribution
Endemic. Three Kings Islands: South West and West Islands only
Habitat
Coastal forest (mostly in shaded sites) where it is a locally common component of the shrub layer. Very rarely in petrel scrub.
Detailed description
Shrub to c. 2 m tall; stems erect to leaning, copiously lenticellate; new shoots green, i.e., leaf nerves, petioles, and new stems with almost no wine colouring, taste only slightly oily-aromatic and not at all peppery; pith of axes (including inflorescence rachis) with central cells soon breaking down to form a 1 mm diam. core of mucilage, in older (leafless, secondarily thickened) stems the pith more than c. 0.3 × stem diameter and disintegrating after a few years. Prophyll a raised line of tissue or sometimes a collar to c.1 mm high. Leaf blades at vegetative nodes ± suborbicular to slightly obovate, to c.10(-18) mm diameter, usually with 9 principal nerves, cordate at base, usually with an open sinus (inner edges of basal lobes seldom touching or overlapping, nor leaf ever peltate), slightly bullate, upper surface with the finer reticulation slightly raised above the ground tissue; petiole to c. 5 cm long, c.0.4× as long as blade, sheathing part to c.(25-)30 mm long, (1-)2-3(-4)× as long as the non sheathing part, the sheath truncate-rounded at apex and not produced, non-sheathing part of the petiole c.4(-5) mm diameter Inflorescence always solitary on a very short (to c.3 mm long) unbranched axillary shoot, the much-reduced leaf at apex of shoot with a short (0-5 mm) green oblong lamina on a vestigial sheathing petiole. Female inflorescence erect in flowering and remaining so into fruit; peduncle to c.15 mm long; spike to c.100 × c.6 mm diameter, with white 10-30-celled hairs to c.0.75 mm long on upper sides and edges of petiole of reduced leaf, and on the lower part of the bract-stalks and on the rachis, and usually conspicuous as an appressed cover on the peduncle around and just below the lowermost bracts; bract-heads c. 1.3 mm diam.; flowers at full emergence centred c. 1.6 mm apart, the emergent part of ovary subglobose; stigmas 3-4(-6), together 0.5-0.8 mm diam. (rarely more than 1 mm diameter). Male inflorescence erect, spike to c.130 × c.8 mm diameter distally in life (5.0-6.5 mm diameter when dry and somewhat flattened), hairs and bracts as in female inflorescence; staminal filaments 1.0-1.5 mm long, anthers c. 0.8 × 0.7 mm wide. Rachis of fruiting spike when ripe c.4 mm diameter, firmly fleshy, orange; ripe fruitlets subglobose, slightly depressed, c.4.5 mm diameter, free from one another and from the bracts and rachis; exocarp and mesocarp orange; seeds c.2.25 × 2.50 mm, ± subglobose in outline, dark brown, with 3-4(-6) rounded longitudinal ridges.
Similar taxa
In New Zealand - none. The deeply ridged, dark green dish-shaped leaves, and very large fruits with clearly spaced fruitlets serve to distinguish it from the other New Zealand species P. (Macropiper) excelsum G.Forst. Piper melchior has some similarity to the Lord Howe endemic P. hooglandii P.S.Green. (see Taxonomic Notes)
Flowering
August - November
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Easily grown from semi-hardwood cuttings and fresh seed. An attractive plant for a semi-shaded situation, moderately tolerant of dry conditions. However, very susceptible to root rot fungi. Cold intolerant.
Threats
Although abundant within its island habitat this species is listed because it occupies a small geographic range
Etymology
piper: Pepper
Taxonomic Notes
The generic distinction between Macropiper and Piper has always been tenuous. Recently Jaramillo et al. (2008) have shown that Macropiper should be merged in Piper. In their paper they provided a combination at species rank in Piper for Macropiper melchior. Recently de Lange (2012) followed Jaramillo et al. (2008) in accepting Piper over Macropiper.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 30 August 2005. Description based on Gardner (1997).
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J. 2012: Taxonomic notes on the New Zealand flora: new names in Piper (Piperaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 50(4): 485-487
Gardner, R.O. 1997: Macropiper (Piperaceae) in the south-west Pacific. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35: 293-307.
Jaramillo, M.A.; Callejas, R; Davidson, C.; Smith, J.F.; Stevens, A.C.; Tepe, E.J. 2008: A phylogeny of the tropical genus Piper using ITS and the chloroplast intron psbJ-petA. Systematic Botany 33: 647-660.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Piper melchior Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/piper-melchior/ (Date website was queried)