This is an outdated version published on 26-03-2024. Read the most recent version.
Forthcoming

Distribution, morphology, and phenology of Piper acutistigmum C. DC. – an endemic species of the Eastern Himalayan region

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.3173

Keywords:

Conservation, morphological variations, occurrence, orthotropic branch, plagiotropic branch, threats

Abstract

Piper acutistigmum C. DC. is an endemic species of the Eastern Himalayan region found in northeast India with the adjacent country Myanmar. A study was conducted to examine the distribution, morphology, and phenology of the species, which is an important step towards its conservation. Field surveys were conducted to locate the population, and observations were made on selected plants from three distinct locations. The study revealed that the species is mostly found in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh and its bordering areas in Assam. The orthotropic and plagiotropic branches show distinct differences in terms of leaf size and shape, petiole, and internodal length. The average sizes of the leaves were 10 × 6 cm and 21.5 × 12.5 cm; petiole length was 3.7 cm and 2.25 cm and internodal length was 17.5 and 6.5 cm in orthotropic and plagiotropic branches, respectively. Leaf flushing occurs between the March and April months, more or less in synchronization with the emergence of the spike bud. The species starts flowering from April until the end of May. The fruiting spikes are observed from July to December. Sterile vines are most dominant in a population with a few fertile (male and female) individuals. The existing natural population is under threat from various developmental activities in and around their habitat and needs immediate attention for conservation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Simmonds SE, Smith JF, Davidson C, Buerki S. Phylogenetics and comparative plastome genomics of two of the largest genera of angiosperms, Piper and Peperomia (Piperaceae). Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2021;163:107229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107229

Quijano-Abril MA, Callejas-Posada R, Miranda-Esquivel DR. Areas of endemism and distribution patterns for Neotropical Piper species (Piperaceae). J Biogeogr. 2006;33(7):1266-78. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01501.x

Suwanphakdee C, Simpson DA, Hodkinson TR, Chantaranothai P. Taxonomic notes on the genus Piper (Piperaceae). Nord J Bot. 2016;34:605-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/njb.01114

Jaramillo MA, Manos PS. Phylogeny and patterns of floral diversity in the Genus Piper (Piperaceae). Am J Bot. 2001;88:706-16. http://doi.org/10.2307/2657072

Marquis RJ. Biogeography of Neotropical Piper. In: Palmer ADN, Dyer LA editors. Piper: A model genus for studies of phytochemistry, ecology, and evolution. New York, NY, USA: Kluwer. 2004; p.78-96. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30599-8_5

Gajurel PR, Rethy P, Kumar Y, Singh B. Piper species (Piperaceae) of North East India (Arunachal Pradesh). Dehradun: Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh; 2008.

Halle´ F, Oldeman RAA, Tomlinson PB. Tropical trees and forests: An architectural analysis. New York: Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg. 1978;p. 441.

Blanc P, Andraos K. Remarques sur la dynamique de croissance dans le genre Piper L. (Piperaceae) et les genres affines. Bull Mus Natn Hist Nat. Paris: Section B, Adansonia. 1983;5:259-82.

Huber H, Hutchings MJ. Differential response to shading in orthotropic and plagiotropic shoots of the clonal herb Glechoma Hirsuta. Oecologia. 1997;112(4):485-91. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s004420050336

Smith-Ramirez C, Armesto JJ. Flowering and fruiting patterns in the temperate rainforest of Chiloe, Chile - ecologies and climatic constraints. J Ecol. 1994;82(2):353-65. https://doi.org/10.2307/2261303

Rathcke BJ, Lacey E. Phenological patterns of terrestrial plants. Ann Rev Ecol Syst. 1985;16:179-214. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.16.110185.001143

Sakai S. Phenological diversity in tropical forests. Popul Ecol. 2001;43:77–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00012018

Leith CE. The standard error of time-average estimates of climatic means. J Appl Meteorol Climatol. 1973;12:1066-69. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1973)012%3c1066:tseota%3e2.0.co;2

Gopalakrishnan KK, Thomas TD. Reproductive biology of Pittosporum dasycaulon Miq., (Family Pittosporaceae) a rare medicinal tree endemic to Western Ghats. Bot Stud. 2014;55(1):15. https:// doi.org/10.1186/1999-3110-55-15

Brearley F, Proctor J, Nagy L, Dalrymple G, Voysey BC. Reproductive phenology over a 10-year period in a lowland evergreen rain forest of central Borneo. J Ecol. 2007;95(95):828-39. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2007.01258.x

Sparks TH, Menzel A. Observed changes in seasons: An overview. Int J Climatol. 2002;22(14):1715-25. http:// doi.org/10.1002/joc.821

Marquis RJ. Phenological variation in the neotropical understory shrub Piper arieianum: causes and consequences. Ecology. 1988;69:1552-65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1941653

Angulo-Sandoval P, Aide TM. Leaf phenology and leaf damage of saplings in the Luquillo experimental forest, Puerto Rico. Biotropica. 2000;32:415-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2000.tb00488.x

Thies W, Kalko EKV. Phenology of neotropical pepper plants (Piperaceae) and their association with their main dispersers, two short-tailed fruit bats, Carollia perspicillata and C. castanea (Phyllostomidae). Oikos. 2004;104:362-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12747.x

Valentin-Silva A, Vieira MF. Phenology of two co-occurring Piper (Piperaceae) species in Brazil. Aust J Bot. 2015;63(7):581-89. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT14332

Devi WD, Gajurel PR, Rethy P. Phenology of Piper mullesua Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don (Piperaceae) – a medicinally important dioecious plant. Pleione. 2016;10:239-47.

Devi WD, Gajurel PR, Rethy P. Phenological behaviour of Piper sylvaticum Roxb. (Piperaceae), a medicinally useful species occurring in the Eastern Himalayan region. Int J Plant Reprod Biol. 2018;10:84-89. http://doi.org/10.14787/ijprb.2018

De Candolle C. Piperacearum clavis analytica. Candollea. 1923;1:65-415. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.15548

De Candolle C. Piperaceae novae. I. India orientalis. Candollea. 1925;2:187-216.

Gajurel PR, Rethy P, Kumar Y. Piper acutistigmum C. DC. (Piperaceae): A new record for India. Rheedea. 2000;10(2):139-41. https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2000.10.02.11

Mukherjee PK. Nomenclatural notes on Piper Linn. (Piperaceae) from India II. Phytotaxa. 2018;338(1):17-32. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.338.1.2

Kalita BC, Bharali P, Jamoh L, Tag H. Diversity of the legumes in the Papum pare districts of Arunachal Pradesh of India. Pleione. 2015;9(2):440-48.

Jain SK, Rao RR. A hand book of field and herbarium methods. New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers; 1977.

Yakang T, Gajurel PR, Singh B. Morphological variations in orthotropic and plagiotropic branches of two Piper species occurring in North-East India. Vegetos. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-023-00727-w

Kasarkar AR, Kulkarni DK. Phenological studies of family Zingiberaceae with special reference to Alpinia and Zingiber from Kolhapur region (MS) India. Bio Disc. 2011;2(3):322-27.

Nanda A, Suresh HS, Krishnamurthy YL. Phenology of a tropical dry deciduous forest of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern India. Ecol Process. 2014;3(1):1-12. https:// doi.org/10.1186/2192-1709-3-1

Hazarika H, Rethy P, Gajurel PR. Phenology of Piper betleoides C. DC. An endemic species of Indian Eastern Himalayas, Arunachal Pradesh. Sci Res Rept. 2014;4(2):128-39.

Hooker JD. The flora of British India. England: L. Reeve & co., Covent Garden. 1886; Vol. 5:p.617-18.

Chanchal C, Thongam B, Handique PJ. Morphological diversity and characterization of some of the wild Piper species of North East India. Genet Resour Crop Evol. 2014;62(2):303-13. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-014-0172-8

Bullock SH. Plant reproduction in neotropical dry forest trees. In: Bullock SH, Mooney HA, Medina E editors. Seasonally dry tropical forests. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1995;p.277-96. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511753398.011

Bawa KS. Patterns of flowering in tropical plants. In: Jones CE, Little RJ editors. Handbook of Experimental Pollination Biology. New York: Van Nostrand, Reinhold. 1983;p.394-410.

Garcia MB, Antor RJ. Age and size structure in populations of a long-lived dioecious geophytes: Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). Int J Plant Sci. 1995;156:236-43. http://doi.org/10.1086/297246

Guitian P. Reproductive biology of Rhamnus legionensis Rothm., a dioecious species endemic to the Northwest Iberian Peninsula. Flora. 1995;109:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0367-2530(17)30676-X

Valentin-Silva A, Staggemeier VG, Batalha MA, Guimarães E. What factors can influence the reproductive phenology of Neotropical Piper species (Piperaceae) in a semi-deciduous seasonal forest? Botany. 2018;96(6):675-84. http://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2018-0029

Pooja S, Sreekala GS, Vijaykumar BN, Sreekala AK, Deepa SN, Sujatha VS. Floral morphology and floral phenology of Piper nigrum. Biological Forum – An International Journal. 2022;14(1):1779-87.

Published

26-03-2024

Versions

How to Cite

1.
Yakang T, Gajurel PR, Singh B. Distribution, morphology, and phenology of Piper acutistigmum C. DC. – an endemic species of the Eastern Himalayan region. Plant Sci. Today [Internet]. 2024 Mar. 26 [cited 2024 Nov. 21];. Available from: https://horizonepublishing.com/journals/index.php/PST/article/view/3173

Issue

Section

Research Articles