Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Piperales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Piperaceae Giseke
Genus
Piper L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Piper melchior (Sykes) M.A.Jaram., Syst. Bot. 33: 655 (2008)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Macropiper melchior Sykes, New Zealand J. Bot. 30: 231-232 (1992)
 Description

Densely branched dioecious shrub to c. 2 m tall, glabrous except for short hairs on the inflorescence. Stem nodes swollen. Leaves with prominent membranous stipules adnate to the proximal 3/5-4/5 of the petiole; free distal part of petiole (3-)6-7 (-10) mm long, green; lamina 7-13(-18) × 7-11 (-17) cm, broadly ovate or almost suborbicular, subcoriaceous, glossy, deep green above, pale beneath; main veins 5-(7), impressed on the upper side of lamina; base cordate; apex shortly and obtusely cuspidate. Inflorescence spikes solitary, rarely paired, terminal and axillary in upper leaf axils, the rachis pubescent. Male spikes 4—11 × 0.6-0.8 cm, rather stout, > female; anthers 1.1-1.3 × 0.8-0.9 mm. Fruiting spikes 6-11 × 1-1.3 cm, stout and + broadly cylindric but slightly tapering towards apex, initially suberect to horizontal, later curving downwards and becoming ± concealed by the leaves, each spike consisting of numerous free drupes or carpels. Individual mature drupes fleshy, orange, c. 3 mm long, 3—4 mm wide across apex, somewhat rounded but often tending to be irregular owing to their dense arrangement; receptacle with ciliate ridges between drupes. Stigmas sessile, situated in a slight depression on the otherwise flattened top of the drupe. Seed c. 2 mm long, 3-4-lobed, ellipsoid on inner face, black and shining. FL Jul-Aug, FT Feb- Mar (in cultivation in Auckland City).

[Reproduced from Sykes (1992, New Zealand J. Bot. 30: 231–236, as Macropiper melchior Sykes) with permission from The Royal Society of New Zealand.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [as Macropiper melchior Sykes] [Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76. [as Macropiper melchior Sykes]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Naturally Uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Naturally Uncommon]
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(4): 647–660.
Sykes, W.R. 1992: Two new names in Macropiper Miq. (Piperaceae) from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 30: 231–236.