Piper kurgianum P. K. Mukh., 2020

Mukherjee, Prasanta Kumar, 2020, Nomenclatural notes on Piper (Piperaceae) from India III, Phytotaxa 441 (3), pp. 263-273 : 266

4. Piper kurgianum P. K. Mukh. nom. nov.

P. argyrophyllum var. 5 Hook. f. Fl. Brit. India 5: 95. 1886. nom. invalid

Type:— INDIA Mont. Nilghiri & Kurg Hills (lectotype designated here) G. Thomson s.n. K ( K000784446 image!; isolectotype K ( K0000784445 image!)

This species differs from P. argyrophyllum in having smaller leaves, swollen nodes, and completely decurrent bracts without raised margins leaving ciliate scars and globose fruits. Piper courtallensis differs in having spikes longer than leaves. It is similar to P. tumidonodosum P. K. Mukh. (2016: 189) in general appearance, particularly in the nature of its nodes but that species has peltate orbicular bracts and is distributed in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Malaysia which has peltate orbicular bracts.

Plants drying black, nodes markedly swollen; leaves narrow elliptic, membranaceous, more or less equal sided, 6–8 cm long and 3–4 cm broad, cuspidate at apex and subequally acute at base; veins 5, with basal pairs opposite, short and weak, upper two subopposite, converging and almost merging at the apex. Fruiting spikes more or less equal the lamina; fruits globose; scars of bracts ciliate.

Distribution: — INDIA: Tamilnadu, Kerala

Note:— The specific epithet coined refers to the reported locality of its occurrence but whether this is same to Coorg in the state of Karnataka is not certain.