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| Peperomia accentus Reveles & Amancio, in Hurtado-Reveles, Amancio et Burgos-Hernández, 2026. |
Abstract
Peperomia accentus is described and illustrated as a new species of Piperaceae from the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. This new taxon belongs to the subgenus Tildenia, which includes species characterized by their geophytic habit. It can be distinguished from its congeners mainly by the combination of roots at the apex of the globose tuber, peltate leaves, numerous simple inflorescences and flowers with long and geniculated styles of a reddish color. A preliminary threat assessment is provided for the new species based on IUCN Red List guidelines. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the distribution patterns of the Mesoamerican species of Peperomia subgenus Tildenia. Finally, we include a key for species distributed north of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
endemic, geophyte, Neotropics, Tildenia, Magnoliids
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| Peperomia accentus morphology. A. General view of a flowering specimen from a lateral perspective. B. General view from an upper perspective. C. Tuber from the bottom. D. Apex of a developing inflorescence with flowers in different anthesis stages. E. Flower with mature stamens from a front and bottom perspective. F. Close-up of a mature anther. G. Sideways perspective of a flower in anthesis. H. Closeup of a receptive stigma. I. Lateral perspective of a developing fruit. |
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| Photographs of Peperomia accentus in habitat. A. General view of a flowering specimen. B. Mature inflorescences. C. Closeup of a single inflorescence. D. Specimen growing in a sheltered soil pocket on a rock outcrop. |
Peperomia accentus Reveles & Amancio, sp. nov.
Diagnosis:—Peperomia accentus can be differentiated from the rest of the geophytic species of Peperomia subgenus Tildenia by the following combination of characters: globose tubers without trunk-like outgrowths, green to wine-colored inflorescences (green to black in sicco), and flowers with geniculate styles 1.5–2.5 mm long, which remain longer than the ovaries after anthesis, persistent in fruit.
Etymology:—The specific epithet alludes to the common shape of the pistil in developing flowers: a wavy line which resembles a tilde (~). Tildes are graphemes commonly used as diacritic (accent) in several scripts.
Leopoldo HURTADO-REVELES, Guadalupe AMANCIO and Mireya BURGOS-HERNÁNDEZ. 2026. Peperomia accentus (Piperaceae), A New geophytic Species endemic to the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. Phytotaxa. 740(3); 237-247. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.740.3.2 [2026-02-10]