Piper sylvaticum
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| Piper sylvaticum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Piperales |
| Family: | Piperaceae |
| Genus: | Piper |
| Species: | P. sylvaticum |
| Binomial name | |
| Piper sylvaticum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Piper sylvaticum is a climber in the Piperaceae, or pepper, family. It is found in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent, and in China. The fruits are used in medicinal products.
A herbaceous, dioecious climber that possesses stolons. The stems are finely powdery pubescent when young, and become ridged and furrowed when mature.[2] It has globose drupes about 3mm in diameter. Flowers in August and September in China, in the Manas National Park of northwest Assam, flowering and fruiting occur from August to October,[3] while in Bangladesh flowers and fruits appear from May to September.[4] This species is distinguished anatomically by having very finely (magnification needed) powdered pubescent leaves.[5] Other distinctive features, differentiating the species from other Piper species in Bangladesh, is yellow flowers and deeply cordate and lobed leaf bases at a macroscopic level, while bicollateral leaf vascular bundles, and para- and tetracytic stomata were identified as distinctive at microscopic anatomical level.[4]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by William Roxburgh in 1820.[6]
Distribution
Habitat and ecology
Vernacular names
Amongst the Monpa people of Mêdog County in southeastern Tibet the plant is referred to as pang-ser.[7] In Standard Chinese, the plant is given the name 长柄胡椒, chang bing hu jiao.[2] An English language vernacular name is mountain long pepper.[8] Pahari pipul (Hindi),[9] pahaari peepal (folk medicine), Pahari-pipoli (Assamese),[8] and vana-pippali (Ayurveda)[9] are some of the names in India. In Bangladesh the vine is referred to as pahari pipul or bon pan (Bengali), borongpatui (Tipuri languages), or bulpan.[4]