Piper kelleyi

Piper kelleyi is a wild relative of black pepper that grows in Ecuador and Peru. The species is named in honor of American botanist Walter Almond Kelley[1] and is a member of the Macrostachys clade of the pepper genus.[2] Piper kelleyi features long, white, pendulous inflorescences and large leaves. It is mostly restricted to montane elevations and produces secondary compounds that deter most herbivores. The most important secondary compounds discovered from P. kelleyi are a prenylated benzoic acid and 2 chromanes that are unique to this species.[3]

Piper kelleyi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Piperales
Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Piper
Species:
P. kelleyi
Binomial name
Piper kelleyi
Tepe et al. (2014)

Piper kelleyi was scientifically described on February 7, 2014, in the journal PhytoKeys.[2] The pinkish undersides of the leaves gave this species the nickname "pink belly" in the research team.[4] Several insect species are entirely dependent on Piper kelleyi for survival, including many specialized caterpillars in the genus Eois (Geometridae).

References
  1. Walter Kelley Obituary, CO — The Daily Sentinel
  2. Eric Tepe; Genoveva Rodríguez-Castañeda; Andrea Glassmire; Lee Dyer (7 Feb 2014). "Piper kelleyi, a hotspot of ecological interactions and a new species from Ecuador and Peru". PhytoKeys (34): 19–32. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.34.6376. PMC 3941067. PMID 24596490. Retrieved 12 Feb 2014.
  3. Jeffrey Christopher S (2014). "Antiherbivore Prenylated Benzoic Acid Derivatives from Piper kelleyi". Journal of Natural Products. 77 (1): 148–153. doi:10.1021/np400886s. PMID 24422717.
  4. "Piper kelleyi (2 of 3)". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 12 Feb 2014.
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