Piper excelsum subsp. peltatum

Detailed description

Shrub or small tree to at least 3 m tall; stems ± erect (occasionally layering), not notably lenticellate, new shoots green (leaf nerves, petioles and new sterns without reddish colouring), taste oily-aromatic and very peppery; pith of axes (including rachis of spike) usually without a mucilage core (but this sometimes present in sucker shoots), in older (leafless, secondarily thickened) stems the pith not more than 0.5× stem diameter, and remaining intact in the largest trunks. Prophyll a collar to 0.5(-2.0) mm high. Leaf blades submembranous to firmly fleshy ± suborbicular, at vegetative nodes to 100(-160) mm diameter, usually with 7 or 9 principal nerves, cordate at base, with a very narrow or closed sinus, occasionally basal lobes overlapping, or sometimes the blade peltate with the petiole inserted up to 5(-20) mm inside blade margin, upper surface of blade not bullate; petiole to 40(-60) mm long, c.0.4×as long as blade, the sheath 0.3-1.0(-2)× as long as non-sheathing part, truncate-rounded at apex and not produced there, the non-sheathing part of petiole to 3.5 mm diam. Inflorescences solitary or 2-3 together on a short (rarely more than 10 mm long) axillary shoot, and (usually solitary) on the adjacent terminal shoot (occasionally this shoot not fertile); reduced leaf at apex of fertile shoot with a glabrous petiole and usually with a green oblong lamina at least 5 mm long, but lamina often ± lacking, especially on terminal fertile shoot. Female inflorescence erect in flowering and remaining so into fruit, peduncle to c. 1.5 cm long, spike to 60(-100) × c.6 mm diameter, with uniseriate usually 5-10-cellular hairs to 0.15 mm long on lower part of bract stalks and sparingly on rachis, these hairs not obvious on the peduncle just below the lowermost bracts; bracts peltate, bract heads 0.40-0.75 mm diameter; flowers at full emergence centred c.1.3 mm apart, emergent part of ovary ovoid; stigmas 3-4(-5), together c. 1.2 mm diameter. Male inflorescence erect, spike to c.110 mm long, proximally c.6 mm diameter, bracts and hairs as in female inflorescence; staminal filaments c. 0.25 mm long, anthers c.1.00 × 0.75 mm wide. Ripe infructescence c.10 mm diameter; fruitlets coalescent, sunken apically about the persistent dark stigmas, exocarp and mesocarp orange; seed oblong to slightly obovoid, apiculate at apex, c.2.0 × 1.5 dark brown, with (3-)4-5(-7) broad longitudinal furrows.