Two New Geophytic Species of Peperomia Subgenus Tildenia (Piperaceae) from Central Peru

Abstract: Two new geophytic species of Peperomia subgenus Tildenia (Piperaceae) from Central Peru are described; (1) Peperomia pachyspadix is a new species from Huancavelica. It is phenotypically similar to P. andina from Cajamarca, but its leaves are not as thick and they lack the funnel shape and purple color of the abaxial side; it is also similar to P. wernerrauhii from Huánuco, but its leaves and tubers are larger. The new species can be distinguished from the abovementioned ones by the spadix, many times shorter and twice as thick. The seeds of P. andina, P. wernerrauhii and P. pachyspadix are similar in shape but the latter has the largest of all three. (2) Peperomia fundus-oculi is a new species with epigeous tuber discovered on the eastern Andean slopes of Ayacucho. Plants are morphologically like P. chutanka for its exposed and branched aerial tubers. Its leaves have a shape similar to this species but are not as succulent, they lack the purplish color of the abaxial side, and they have a characteristic pattern on its adaxial side, with a whitish iridescent spot in the center, with irregular margins, from where nerves emerge, giving the impression of the eye fundus, hence its name in Latin. Its anthers, ovaries, and fruits are also shorter than those of P. chutanka.