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Type: Article
Published: 2026-05-15
Page range: 251-260
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Piper trujilloi (Piperaceae), a new species from the Andean–Amazonian foothills, Colombia

Grupo DIVERSITAS; Facultad de Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas; Universidad Militar Nueva Granada; km 2 Vía Cajicá–Zipaquirá; Cajicá; Colombia; Negaunee Integrative Research Center; Field Museum of Natural History; Chicago; IL; USA
Grupo DIVERSITAS; Facultad de Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas; Universidad Militar Nueva Granada; km 2 Vía Cajicá–Zipaquirá; Cajicá; Colombia
Magnoliids Caquetá northwestern Amazonia tropical forests

Abstract

Piper trujilloi, a new species from the northwestern Amazon basin, is described and illustrated, and its phylogenetic relationships are discussed. It occurs in the Amazon foothills (a region composed of low hills and plains systems) and the humid forests of the Andes of Colombia (on the eastern slope of the Eastern Cordillera) in the department of Caquetá. Piper trujilloi is a small suffrutex, morphologically similar to P. dunstervilleorum. It can be differentiated by its lamina shape and pubescence, length of inflorescence peduncles, and pubescence of the floral bracts. Molecular sequence data support its inclusion in Piper subgenus Pennistylosum, a group highly diversified in the NW Amazon basin. A key to Amazonian suffrutescent Piper species with small and narrow laminas is provided. This species is one of several taxa described from the department of Caquetá in the last decade, a species-rich region that continues to produce new taxa.

Se describe e ilustra Piper trujilloi, una nueva especie del noroeste de la cuenca amazónica, y se discuten sus relaciones filogenéticas. Esta nueva especie se encuentra en las estribaciones (piedemonte) de los Andes y el Amazonas (una región compuesta por colinas bajas y sistemas de llanuras), en los bosques húmedos en la vertiente oriental de la Cordillera Oriental, departamento de Caquetá. P. trujilloi es un pequeño sufrútice morfológicamente similar a P. dunstervilleorum. Se puede diferenciar por la forma y pubescencia de su lámina, longitud de los pedúnculos de la inflorescencia y la pubescencia de las brácteas florales. Los datos de secuencias moleculares respaldan su inclusión en el subgénero Pennistylosum de Piper, un grupo muy diversificado en la cuenca noroeste del Amazonas. Se proporciona una clave para las especies de Piper sufrutescentes amazónicas con láminas pequeñas y estrechas. Esta especie es uno de los varios taxones descritos en el departamento de Caquetá en la última década, una región rica en especies que sigue produciendo nuevos taxones.

Palabras clave: bosques tropicales, Caquetá, Noroeste de la Amazonia

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How to Cite

Jaramillo, M.A. & Majin-Ladino, A.F. (2026) Piper trujilloi (Piperaceae), a new species from the Andean–Amazonian foothills, Colombia. Phytotaxa 756 (3): 251–260. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.756.3.4