Common name: Kava
Piper hooglandii (I.Hutton & P.S.Green) M.A.Jaram. APNI* Synonyms: Macropiper hooglandii I.Hutton & P.S.Green APNI*
Description: Shrub 2 (-4) m tall, branching from base.
Leaves strongly aromatic and peppery; petiole ±rounded, 3–9 (-12) cm long; lamina cordate, (7-) 10–14 (-18) cm long, (8-) 12–16 (-20) cm broad, cordate at base passing through a distinct 'V'-shape onto petiole, rounded at apex with a short somewhat obscure point; principal nerves 7–9 (-11).
Spikes 1–3; male to 10 cm long; female 4–6 cm long. Ovary ovoid; stigmas 3 (rarely 4); subtending peltate scales c. 3 mm diam.
Fruiting spike 0.7–1 cm diam., red. Fruit fleshy, not coalescing, rounded-conical at apex. Seeds globose, slightly 3-angled, 1.5 mm long, hard, pungent-peppery.
Distribution and occurrence: endemic to Lord Howe Island, where locally common. Occurs as an understorey plant in damp, shaded conditions, on basaltic soil, from the summits of the mountains down to c. 50 m in creeks.
NSW subdivisions: LHI
Text by P.S. Green, Kew Bulletin 48(2): 316, fig. 3 (1994), as Macropiper hooglandii I.Hutton & P.S.Green
Taxon concept: M.A. Jaramillo et al. (2008) A phylogeny of the tropical genus Piper using ITS and the chloroplast intron psbJ-petA. Systematic Botany 33(4): 647-660
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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