Résumé
Morphological, chemical, cytological and genetic evidence demonstrating the absence of taxonomic distinction between
Piper methysticum and
Piper wichmannii are reviewed.
Piper methysticum is not a separate species, but rather a group of sterile cultivars selected from somatic mutants of
P. wichmannii. As
P. methysticum was described first (1786), it has priority and
P. wichmannii (1910) is superfluous. A new subspecific classification is suggested that makes a distinction between the sterile cultivars (
P. methysticum var. methysticum) and the wild populations (
P. methysticum var. Wichmannii).