Piper talbotii C. DC. Feddes Repert.

Mukherjee, Prasanta Kumar, 2020, Nomenclatural notes on Piper (Piperaceae) from India III, Phytotaxa 441 (3), pp. 263-273 : 270

9. Piper talbotii C. DC. Feddes Repert. 10: 523. 1912 nom. nud., Candollea 1: 70. 1923. Candollea 2: 15. 215

Type: — INDIA: Maharashtra (Lectotype designated here: Matheran, 4000ft. A. Meebold 4611 CAL!; Syntypes North Kanara , Amshi,

Talbot 1219 CAL!, Talbot 2888 CAL!; Western Ghats, T. Cook 74 CAL!; Matheran, Unknown collector s.n. CAL!; & 4626 WRSL-

lost n. v. Piper relictum Lekhak et. al. Nordic Jour. Bot. 30: 571 2012. syn. nov. Type:— INDIA, Maharashtra, Kolhapur District, Gaganbawda tehsil, Morjai plateau, 975 m, 18 Dec. 2012, M. M. Lekhak MML 436

(holotype CAL!,) Piper dravidii Lekhak et al. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 61: 1057. 2014. syn. nov. Type:— INDIA: Maharashtra, Kolhapur District, Gaganbawda tehsil, Morjai plateau, 975 m, 18 December 2012, M. M. Lekhak MML 436

( CAL!). Distribution:— INDIA: Maharashtra.

Note:— C.de Candolle in 1912 cited ‘Matheran, 4000ft A. Meebold 4611’ as the only specimen for P. talbotii . He included some more specimens while validly publishing it in 1925. The type is considered from his 1912 publication. Rahiman & Nair (1989: 75) placed P. talbotii as a synonym of P. trichostachyon (Miquel) C. De Candolle. The latter one differs principally by its female receptacles which are hairy both outside and inside. Female receptacles in P. talbotii are glabrous outside. Furthermore, both are distributed differently. Piper talbotii is reported only from the high plateaus of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, whereas P. trichostachyon does not extend to Maharashtra. Characters mentioned by Lekhak et al. (2014: 1058)) to distinguish between P. dravidii and P. relictum appear insignificant. The two share the same characters with P. talbotii and all are similar in every respect. Furthermore, they share the same distributional area, the northern Western Ghats. As such, all of them are considered as synonymous.