Abstract
Floral and inflorescence structure and ontogeny are described in detail in Peperomia fraseri, an anomalous species of Piperaceae that differs in several respects from other species of Peperomia and other perianthless Piperales (Piperaceae and Saururaceae). Inflorescence structure is atypical in this species, with numerous spikes arranged spirally on a long raceme. There is a gender distribution of flowers along each spike, with the proximal (lower) part bearing bisexual flowers and the distal (upper) region bearing female flowers. Furthermore, there is a high degree of polymorphism in the structure (including presence or absence) of flower‐subtending bracts in the same inflorescence. Bract suppression at the basalmost abaxial position in P. fraseri could be explained by a strong inhibitory activity of the spike‐subtending bract or its primordium. Bract suppression among scattered flowers in the lower (bisexual) region is interpreted as an example of somatic instability. By contrast, more distal bract and ...
Published Version
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