Morphological Characterization of Two Species of Piper, Piper umbellatum andPiper capense in Tepi, Ethiopia

This study examined the intra and inter-specific relationships between the two species, using five accessions ofPiperumbellatumand eight ofPipercapense.13 quantitative characters (seven vegetative and six reproductive) and 16 qualitative characters were pooled for the analysis.These two species were foundtodiffer in steam colour,hairiness(pubescence)andbranching habit. Leaf bladeswere found broadly ovate inp. capensebut sub orbicular-ovate inp. umbellatum,leaf base cordetin p. capensebut deeply cordet inp. umbellatum,Leaf vain 7-9 veined from base, hairy at least on veins below inp capensebut 9-11 veined from base with 2 additional major veins arising just above base inp. umbellatum,.Stipules 1.5-2cmL inp. capensebut 2-2.5cmL inp. umbellatum,Spike solitary inp. capensebut inflorescence an apparently auxiliary pedunculate umbel of up to 5 spikes inp. umbellatum,.Flowering period was longer inp. capense(>15days) than inp. umbellatum (maximum of 9 days). Tallerplant were recorded forp. capense 2.7m(L),shorter plant height were recorded forp. umbellatum,1m(L),Greater intra-specific variation was observed inp. capense (five clusters)than inp. umbellatum,(three clusters) thespeciesshowed closer inter-specific relation ship at higher Euclidean distance.&nbsp