Piper betle

Suwanphakdee, C. & Chantaranothai, P., 2011, A new species and three taxonomic changes in Piper (Piperaceae) from Thailand, Blumea 56 (3), pp. 235-239 : 239

4. Piper betle L.

Piper betle L. (1753) 28. — Type: Herb. Hermann 3: 32; 4: 9, No. 27 (lecto BM, selected by Huber 1987) , India.

Piper rubroglandulosum Chaveer.& Mokkamul ( Chaveerach et al.2008) 142, ( Chaveerach et al. 2010) 175. — Type: Chaveerach 314 (holo BK?; iso BKF?), Thailand, Surat Thani, Klong Panom National Park, syn. nov.

Distribution — India, Sri Lanka, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand (Northern, South-eastern, Peninsular), Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Habitat & Ecology — In evergreen forest near stream, fruit plantation, disturbed area.

Phenology — Flowering: March–June; fruiting: May–July.

Note — Again, as with P. argyrites , we were unable to find the type of P. rubroglandulosum at BK and BKF as indicated by Chaveerach et al. (2008). We have carefully examined the description, line drawing and photographs of P. rubroglandulosum and found that it is a wild form of P. betle . Therefore, P. rubroglandulosum is reduced to synonymy of P. betle . Female plants of P. betle are cultivated throughout Thailand, but the wild form of both female and male plants can be found in nature only in south-eastern and southern regions.