3.
Peperomia alata
Ruiz & Pavon, Fl. Peruv. 1: 31. 1798.
Herbs , perennial, rhizomatous, erect or reclining, simple or sparsely branched, 1-3 dm, glabrous, without black, glandular dots. Leaves alternate; petiole 1/10-1/5 length of blade, slightly dilated and clasping at base, decurrent in lines or conspicuous internodal wings. Leaf blade 3-5-veined from base, narrowly to broadly elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 5-13 × 1.5-4 cm, base attentuate to acuminate, apex acute to short-acuminate; surfaces glabrous. Spikes terminal, 1-3, sometimes also with solitary spikes from proximal axils, densely flowered, 6-13 cm, mature fruiting spikes 2-3 mm diam. Fruits sessile, globose to very broadly ovoid, 0.5-0.8 × 0.6-0.8 mm, minutely warty; beak minute, mammiform or conic, 2 sides flattened, 0.1-0.2 mm.
Flowering all year. Swamps; 0-10 m; Fla.; West Indies; Central America; South America.
Peperomia alata is known from three collections (one not specified, the other two from Collier County, Florida). It is a common and widespread species of the West Indies, Central America, and South America. The characteristic wings on the stem are not so conspicuous as on many specimens from those regions.
