78 CXXIV. PIPERACEX. (J. D. Hooker.) [ Piper. 
OrpER CXXIV. PIPERACEIJE. 
Herbs or shrubs, rarely subarboreous, aromatic. Leaves alternate oppo- 
site or whorled, often pellucid-dotted, entire; stipules 0 or 2 connate, or 
adnate to the petiole. Flowers minute, 1-2-sexual, in axillary or terminal 
catkin-like spikes subtended by a peltate bract. Perianth 0. Stamens 
2-6, rarely 7-8, hypogynous; anthers often jointed on the filaments, burst- 
ing longitudinally, or with the cells confluent. Ovary 1-celled, or of 3 or 
more carpels free or connate below; stigmas sessile, simple or penicillate. 
Ovules lor more, orthotropous. Fruit small, of the 1-celled genera inde- 
hiscent, of the pluri-carpellar forming cocci or follicles. Seeds globose ovoid 
or oblong; testa thin, albumen copious floury ; embryo minute, enclosed in 
a sac, radicle superior.-—Genera 8, species enumerated about 1000 (probably 
exaggerated), chiefly Tropical American. 
Tribe I. Saurureæ. Ovary of 3-4 free or connate carpels. 
Stamens 3-6. Ovary l-celled . ... . . . . . . . . . 1. HOUTTUYNIA: 
Tribe IT... Piperese. Ovary 1-celled. 
Anther-cells distinct. Fruit not minute, stigmas 3—5 confluent . 2. PIPER. 
Anther-cells confluent. Fruit minute, stigma usually penicillate 3. PEPEROMIA. 
l HOUTTUYNIA, Thunb. 
Perennial herbs? . Leaves alternate, usually cordate; stipules broad, 
membranous. Spikes terminal and leaf-opposed, peduncled, involucrate ; 
involucre of 4-6 white petaloid bracts. F lowers minute. Perianth 0. 
Stamens 3-6; filaments below adnate to the ovary; anthers oblong. Ovary 
of 3—4 partially connate l-celled carpels; styles free, erect, stigmatose 
on the inner surface; ovules many, on parietal placentas. Fruit subglo- 
" bose, bursting between the styles. Seeds globose, testa membranous.— 
Species 2 or 3; Eastern Asiatic and Californian. 
H. cordata, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 934, t. 26; leaves cauline cordate, 
bracteoles minute. Cas. DC. in Prodr. xvi. 1. 238; Poir. Encycl. ii. t. 739 ; 
Bot. Mag. t. 2731; Schnizl. Icon. t. 82; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Ed. Wall. & Carey; 
i. 360. Polypara cochinchinensis, Lour. Fl. Coch. i. 78. 
TROPICAL HIMALAYA; from Garwhal to Sikkim, alt. 1-5000 ft. Assam and 
KnasrA Mrs., Griffith, &c. Distr1B.—Siam, China, Japan. 
Rootstock creeping ; stem 1-3 ft., herbaceous, erect, leafy, subsimple, angular, 
pubescent at the nodes. Leaves 14-2} in. long and broad, very broadly ovate-cordate, 
acuminate, 5-nerved, abruptly narrowed into the petiole, glabrous or nerves. pubes- 
cent beneath, gland-dotted; petiole 1-2 in., base sheathing ; stipules long, linear- 
oblong, obtuse. Bracts 4-3 in., rounded or oblong. Spike } in., elongating in fruit 
to 1-2 in., dense-fld. Stamens 3. . 
2. PIPER, Linn. 
Shrubs, rarely herbs or trees, with swollen nodes, often glandular and 
aromatic. Leaves entire, often unequal-sided ; stipules various. Flowers very 
minute, dioecious, very rarely 2-sexual, spiked, each in the axil of a bract 
with or without lateral bracteoles ; bracts peltate, or cupular and adnate to 
the rachis, sometimes decurrent on the Ewa with or. without raised maf- 
gins; bracteoles if present forming low ridges on each side of the flowers 
