Biology:Peperomia angustata

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Short description: Species of plant

Peperomia angustata
File:Peperomia angustata (1).jpg
Leafy stem with flowering spike
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Piperales
Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Peperomia
Species:
P. angustata
Binomial name
Peperomia angustata
Kunth
Synonyms[1]
File:Peperomia angustata (2).jpg
Close-up of maturing peppercorns
File:Peperomia angustata (3).jpg
Leaf with 3 main veins
File:Peperomia angustata (4).jpg
In habitat

Peperomia angustata, with no commonly used English name, is a species of epiphyte or lithophyte native to the Neotropical realm. It belongs to the family Piperaceae.[1]

Description

Peperomia angustata, common over much of its distribution area, is a perennial plant species which is herbaceous with succulent leaves, and which climbs in trees or trails on the ground. Here are other notable features:[2]

  • Branching stems reach about 30 cm (12 in) long and tend to be 6-angled. Leaves arise in groups of 3-6 with petioles up to 70 mm (3 in) long and blades generally rhombic in shape up to 5 cm (2 in) long and about half as wide. Blades have 3-5 nerves radiating from the base.
  • Inflorescences are single spikes at branch tips, with peduncles up to 3 cm (1 in) long and the flowering part up to 30 cm (12 in) long, but only up to about 2 mm (1⁄8 in) wide. The flowering part is covered with tiny scale-like bracts, each associated with a flower.
  • As in all species of the family, the flowers are very small and much simplified, with no sepals and no corolla, but with two stamens and an ovary.
  • Egg-shaped, one-seeded, drupe-type fruits commonly known a peppercorns are up to 1.4 mm (1⁄16 in) high and a little less wide, thus too small to grind as a spice. When mature they are dark brown to black.

Distribution

Peperomia angustata is native to Mexico, Central America and South America south to Peru and northern Brazil.[3] Older records also may place it in Cuba.[4]

Habitat

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Peperomia angustata occurs in dry forests with deciduous leaves.[5] In Mexico's Eastern Sierra Madre foothills it also occurs in tropical semi-deciduous forests below 500 m (1,600 ft) in elevation.[2] In Los Llanos Region, Venezuela, it inhabits tropical deciduous forests, forests along rivers and scrubland.[6]

In traditional medicine

In the Mexican state of Veracruz, Peperomia angustata is used to treat rheumatism and earache.[4] Among the Mayan people of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, in the Otoch Ma´ax yetel Kooh preserved area, Peperomia angustata is employed to treat snakebite and bites and stings of other venomous animals, such as scorpions and spiders.[7]

Taxonomy

Peperomia angustata is one of many species first scientifically collected by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland during their American Expedition of 1799–1804, and who later, in 1816, with the help of Carl Sigismund Kunth, formally published the taxon name and description. The type specimen had been collected at the explorers' first base of operations, in the environs of Cumaná, Venezuela,[8] which they visited in 1799 and 1800.[9]

Etymology

The genus name Peperomia is New Latin from the Greek peperi meaning "pepper", and homoios meaning "like, similar."[10] This alludes to species of Peperomia being similar to species of the pepper genus Piper.

The species name angustata is a conjugated form from the Latin angusto meaning "narrowed."[11] When Kunth formally described the species in Latin, he remarked that the leaves had narrow bases, "... basi angustatis."[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Peperomia angustata Kunth". United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:677986-1. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Samain, Marie-Stéphanie; Tebbs, Margaret Cecilia (2020). "Piperaceae" (in Spanish). Flora del Bajío y de Regiones Adyacentes (Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C. (INECOL)) 215: 4-6. http://inecolbajio.inecol.mx/floradelbajio/documentos/fasciculos/ordinarios/Piperaceae%20215.pdf. Retrieved February 19, 2026. 
  3. ↑ "Peperomia angustata Kunth". Catalogue of Life. April 18, 2026. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/76P99. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vergara-Rodríguez, DanielaExpression error: Unrecognized word "et". (2017). "Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation Status of Peperomia (Piperaceae) in the State of Veracruz, Mexico". Tropical Conservation Science (Sage) 10: 1-28. doi:10.1177/1940082917702383. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thorsten-Kroemer/publication/316421428_Diversity_Distribution_and_Conservation_Status_of_Peperomia_Piperaceae_in_the_State_of_Veracruz_Mexico/links/5908a09eaca272f658f7473f/Diversity-Distribution-and-Conservation-Status-of-Peperomia-Piperaceae-in-the-State-of-Veracruz-Mexico.pdf. Retrieved May 19, 2026. 
  5. ↑ "Taxón: Peperomia angustata Kunth" (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C.. https://www.cicy.mx/sitios/flora%20digital/ficha_virtual.php?especie=725. 
  6. ↑ Duno de Stefano, Rodrigo; Aymard, Gerardo A.; Huber, Otto (2007) (in Spanish). Catálogo anotado e ilustrado de la flora vascular de los llanos de Venezuela. Bogotá D.C., Colombia: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. ISBN 9789803791575. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerardo-Aymard/publication/48214802_Catalogo_anotado_e_ilustrado_de_la_flora_vascular_de_los_llanos_de_Venezuela/links/56b509e808ae3c1b79ab2035/Catalogo-anotado-e-ilustrado-de-la-flora-vascular-de-los-llanos-de-Venezuela.pdf. 
  7. ↑ Tuz Canche, Marbella; Aguilar Cordero, Wilian; Cruz Blanco, Viktor (2022). "Uso de Plantas alexitéricas como antídotos en un Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna en México" (in es). Revista Estudios Ambientales (Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Ambientales) 10 (2): 48-66. ISSN 2347-0941. https://ojs2.fch.unicen.edu.ar/ojs-3.1.0/index.php/estudios-ambientales/article/download/1578/1381/4480. Retrieved May 19, 2026. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bonpland, Amat.; de Humboldt, Alex.; Kunth, Carol. Sigismund (1816) (in Latin). Nova genera et species plantarum quas in peregrinatione ad plagam aequinoctialem orbis novi collegerunt /descripserunt, partim adumbraverunt Amat. Bonpland et Alex. de Humboldt; ex schedis autographis Amati Bonplandi in ordinem digessit. Voyage de Humboldt et Bopland.. 1. lutetiae parisiorum. pp. 68. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4565. 
  9. ↑ Gillis, Anna Maria. "Humboldt in the New World". USA: United States Government. https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2012/novemberdecember/feature/humboldt-in-the-new-world. 
  10. ↑ "peperomia noun". Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peperomia. 
  11. ↑ Eckel, P.M.. "angustatus,-a,-um". St. Louis, MO, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden. https://www.mobot.org/mobot/latindict/keyDetail.aspx?keyWord=angustatus. 

Wikidata ☰ Q15605422 entry



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