Distribution Morphological Variations And Phenology Of Piper Acutistigmum C Dc And P Wallichii Miq Hand Mazz Of North East India

Abstract

Among the various species of Piper occurring in Northeast India, Piper acutistigmum newlineC. DC. and P. wallichii (Miq.) Hand. - Mazz. were selected for the present study with an newlineaim to determine their distribution pattern, population status, range of variations newlineoccurring within the species and also to study their phenology. The selected species are newlinedioecious, tall climbers with distinct dimorphic branches viz. orthotropic vegetative newlinebranch and plagiotropic fertile branch. Both the species are ethnomedicinally important newlineand have traditional uses by tribal communities of the studied area. The distributional newlinestudy of the species was carried out in different states of Northeast India. The newlineexperimental work for population, intraspecific variations and phenology was mainly newlinecarried out in the state Arunachal Pradesh, selecting different forest areas of the state. For newlineP. acutistigmum, the selected study sites were Doimukh at lt300 msl and Kimin at 400 newline800 msl of Papum Pare district. For P. wallichii, the selected study sites were Sunpura of newlineLohit district at an elevation of lt300 msl and Yachuli of Lower Subansiri district at an newlineelevation of 1000-1400 msl. Some live specimens were collected and mounted on newlineherbarium sheets and deposited in the departmental herbarium for future reference.