164 PIPERACEJ2. 



at both ends, or minutely rounded at the base : primary veins immersed above, prominulous 

 beneath, tertiary ones slightly prominulous on both sides : ochrese split; spikes simple, virgate: 

 flowers glomerate: bracts enclosing the base of the sessile, 5 -partite calyx; berry "ovoid, 

 exceeded by the conical top of the achenium." — Jacq. Amer. Pict. t. 115. Desc. Fl. 3. 

 t. 352.— C. excoriata, Jacq.— A branched tree, 20-30' high ; leaves 7"-4" long, 2i"-2" 

 broad : petiole 6"'-4"' long ; spikes 3"-4" long, usually nodding at the top : flowers 

 yellowish; stamens exserted; berry "2 j'" long, white, with the protruding achenium-top 

 black." — Hab. Jamaica (Sic.) ; Antigua!, Wullschl.; [Portorico!, French islands!]. 

 Antigonon leptopus, Hook. Arn., is a cultivated plant in Jamaica. 



LVIII, PIPEKACE^. 



Flowers naked, amentaceous. Ovary simple : ovule single, basilar, atropous. Embryo 

 minute, enclosed within the persistent embryo-sac, lying at the top of amylaceous perisperm. 

 — Leaves quite entire. 



Aromatic, pungent properties are universal in this Order : of the famous East- Indian 

 Piperacese, Piper nigrum (the common Pepper : Desc. Fl. 6. t. 424), Cubeba officinalis, Miq. 

 (Desc. Fl. 6. t. 429), and Chavica Betle, Miq. (the Betel-pepper), are cultivated in the "West 

 Indies. Several species afford Colonial medicines, e. g. Artanthe Bredemeyeri, Ottonia 

 Vahlii. 



1. PEPEROMIA, B. P. 



Bracts peltate. Stamens 2, lateral to the ovary. Ovary sessile : stigma penicillate or 

 minute. Pericarp thin. — Herbs ; leaves usually succulent, exstipulate. 



§ 1. Leaves alternate, palmatinerved. 



* Stigma sessile on the top of the ovary. 



f Delicate, creeping, radicant herbs ; fruit subsessile, devoid of a beak. 



1. P. nummularifolia, Kth. Puberulous or glabrate ; stem elongated, filiform, radi- 

 cant; leaves alternate, orbicular, convex-concave, fleshy, ciliate, obsoletely 3-nerved: anthers 

 subsessile ; stigma minute ; fruit ovoid, subsessile. — Miq. PI. Fockean. t. 2. — 'Piper, Sw. 

 Acrocarpidium, Miq. ! — Stem creeping to indefinite length : amentiferous branches usually 

 1"-1£" long ; hairs scattered, curved ; leaves 4"'-3'" diam. ; aments 6"'-8"' long. — Hab. 

 Jamaica !, Bancr., March, IFils., to Trinidad! : Sieb. Tr. 16, in moist places and on trees ; 

 [Cuba !, and Mexico to Brazil !]. 



2. P. exilis, Gr. Stem hair-like, glabrous, radicant ; leaves alternate, orbicular, flat, 

 membranaceous, glabrous, ciliate with long, distant hairs, obsoletely 3-nerved ; filaments 

 distinct ; stigma minute ; fruit ovoid, subsessile. — Acrocarpidium, Miq. Stem diffuse, 

 flexuose, several inches long : amentiferous branches as long as the ament ; leaves 2"' diam., 

 pellucid, devoid of black dots ; aments &"-&'" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, Wils. ; Trinidad !, 

 Or. ; [Portorico!]. 



3. P. rotundifolia, Kth. Stem puberulous or glabrate, elongated, filiform, radicant ; 

 leaves alternate, oval, or the inferior oval-roundish, flat, glabrescent, dotted beneath with 

 reddish points, obsoletely 3-nerved ; anthers subsessile ; stigma minute ; ovary ovoid. — 

 Piper, L., Sw. Observ. Peperomia Vincentiana, Miq.! (non Acroc. rotundifolium, Ej.). — 

 Nearly allied to P. nummularifolia, but the amentiferous branches longer, and most leaves 

 4"'-5 " long, 2"'-3'" broad, their marginal bristles rather more distant, at length disappear- 

 ing. — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.), among mosses, on trees and stones; Antigua!, Wullschl.; 

 Dominica !, Imr. ; S.Vincent!, Guild.; [Venezuela!]. 



4. P. cordifolia, Dietr. Stem glabrous, filiform, radicant ; leaves alternate, obcordate, 

 flat-convex, glabrescent, eciliate, obsoletely 3-nerved ; anthers subsessile ; stigma minute ; 

 fruit ovoid, subsessile. — Piper, Sw. Acrocarpidium, Miq. ! — Stem creeping to indefinite 

 length ; leaves 7"'-4'" long, 5"'-4'" broad, retuse at the top, broadly cuneate or rounded at 

 the base ; aments shortly peduncled, 8 /w -10"' long. — Hab. Jamaica !, Macfl, March, Wils., 

 Wullschl., in moist woods, and on trees or stones ; Dominica !, Imr. 



5. P. serpens, Loud. " Glabrous ; stem filiform, radicant ; leaves alternate, remform- 



