focus on... How many Peperomias?
Since the first description of the genus by Ruiz & Pavón in 1794, 2554 different species names plus another 677 variety and form names have been published. In the meanwhile, 1558 of them are considered as synonyms or otherwise illegitimate names. Certainly, more of the remaining 1673 accepted names (1505 species and 168 varieties and forms - as to December 2023) will prove to cover the same plant species. The difficulty of taxonomy of a large pantropical plant genus is twofold. A species occurring on different continents tends to show minor adaptations, so it is not always easy to point out if we deal with two species or simply with some intraspecific variation. The second problem is that most taxonomists tend to focus on a specific geographical region. To know if species of different areas are equal, one has to have knowledge of the genus worldwide.
Peperomias are tropical and subtropical plants. Most species are found in northern South America and Central America.
| Country | Taxa | Density* |
| Peru | 405 | 5 |
| Colombia | 259 | 4 | | Ecuador | 237 | 14 |
| Costa Rica | 155 | 49 |
| Mexico | 136 | 1 |
| Dom. Rep. + Haiti | 41 | 9 |
| Madagascar | 42 | 1 | | Philippines | 18 | 1 |
| Africa (cont.) | 21 | 0.01 |
| Australia | 5 | 0.01 |
*Density:density is a coefficient obtained by comparing the number of accepted taxa (here species and varieties) with the country area.
[cited species numbers according to the TRGP (see repertory) - Dec 2023]
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