260 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
lares. Ovarium sessile, 1-loculare. Stigmata 2-5. Bacce libere v. connate.—Suffrutices frutices 
v. arbores, quandoque radicantes, articulate ; foliis alternis, stipulatis; pedunculis solitariis v. aggre- 
gatis, simplicibus v. divisis.— Quebitea, Aubl. Guin.! Macropiper, Artanthe, Pothomorpha, Miq. 
To Piper belongs the long-furgotten genus Quebitea, Aubl., of which the original specimens exist at 
the British Museum, as I pointed out to M. Casimir DeCandolle. 
Besides the species represented in Viti, there are in tropical Polynesia—1. P. excelsum, Forst. Prodr. 
n. 20, et Icon. (ined.) t. 12 (P. latifolium, Hook. f. in Proceed. Linn. Soc. vol. i. p. 127, non Forst.; P. 
psittacorum, Endl. Fl. Norf. n. 80?), from the Kermandec group and Lord Howe’s Island (M‘Gillivray !) ; 
easily known by its bifid peduncles; and 2. P. Austro-Caledonicum, Casim. DC. mss. (P. Siriboa, Forst. 
Prodr. n. 19, non alior.), from New Calédonia (Forster! in' Herb. Mus. Brit.), which approaches in look 
P. ezcelsum, but has solitary catkins, longer than the petiole and longer even than the blade of the leaf, 
and oblique, cordate-ovate, acute, and penninerved leaves. 
The four Vitian species are easily distinguished, viz. :— 
BR CUD o o. ROS lu ir oV e E insectifugum. 
Stem erect. 
Catkins shorter than the petiole . . . . . . . . . . . . P. methysticum. 
Catkins longer than the petiole, solitary. . . . . . . . . . P. Macgillivrayi. 
Catkine in twoe or threes. . V0. 705.5 S. ee PCIe: 
1, P. methysticum, Forst. Plant. Esc. 50; Prodr. n. 21; foliis membranaceis eequilateris lato- 
ovatis subrotundatis profunde cordatis, breviter acuminatis, 9-12-nerviis, subtus in nervis subtilissime 
puberulis; amento d oppositifolio solitario brevi—Macropiper methysticum, Miq. Syst. Pip. p. 217 ; 
Guillem. in Ann. des Sc. Nat. (nov. ser.) t. vii. p. 18; De Less. Icon. t. iii. p.983. P. spurium, 
Forst. in Herb. Mus. Paris. P. inebrians, Sol. Prim. Fl. Ins. Pacif. (ined.) p. 204, et in Parkins. 
Drawings of Tahit. Plants (ined.), t. 6. P. decumanum, Opiz.! in Reliq. Heenkean. fasc. vol. iii. 
p. 160; Icon. De Less. l.c. t. 89 (optima).— Nomen verriac. Vitiense, * Yaqona ;" Tahitense, teste 
Solander, * Ava-ava;" Hawaiense, teste Seemann, “ Kawa.”—Extensively cultivated in Viti (See- 
mann! n. 568), also in the Hawaiian (Macrae! Barclay! Nuttall! Seemann!), Society (Banks and 
Solander ! Forster !), and Tongan Islands (Sir E. Home !), as well as in Wallis Island (Sir E. Home!). 
Not grown in islands inhabited exclusively by Papuans. 
Of this pepper there are six varieties in Viti, distinguished by the height of the entire plant, the 
length and thickness of the joints, and the more or less purplish or greenish tinge of the stem and 
leaves. The best Yaqona (* Kawa” or * Ava” in many Polynesian islands), for in Viti this name applies 
to the plant as well as to the beverage extracted from it, grows from 500 to 1000 feet above the sea-level, 
and in the islands of Kadavu and Viti Levu. The plant is cultivated throughout thé group in small 
patches, and isolated specimens are frequently noticed around public and private houses. It is propa- 
gated by offshoots. The highest shrubs are about six feet, and their stem from an inch to an inch and a 
half in diameter; the leaves are cordate, and either green or more or less tinged with purple. The 
root and extreme base of the stem are the parts of which the drink is prepared; they are preferred fresh, 
but are nearly as good when dry. After the roots have been dug up, they are placed in an airy spot, 
generally on a stage over the fireplaces of the houses. In order to cres the beverage, it is necessary to 
reduce the roots to minute particles, which, according to regular Polynesian usage, is done by chewing—a 
task in Fiji devolving upon lads who have sound teeth, and occupy a certain social rank towards the man 
for whom they perform the office. In other Polynesian islands it is done by young women. When a suffi- 
cient quantity has been chewed, the masticated mass is placed in a bowl made of the wood of the Vesi 
(Afzelia bijuga, A. Gray), and having four legs and a piece of rope attached to it, which, when the bowl is 
brought in, is thrown towards the greatest man present, and guides those who happen to arrive in ignorance 
of his rank in observing the ceremonies required from them. Some Fijians make it a point to chew as 
great a quantity as possible in one mouthful; and there is a man of this sort at Verata, famous all over the 
group, who is able within three hours’ time to chew a single mouthful sufficient to intoxicate fifty persons. 
Fortunately, Kawa, unlike distilled spirits, does not render people quarrelsome; and Fijians, on extolling 
the virtues of their national beverage, often make this observation. On publie occasions, or at convivial 
meetings, when the chewed root is placed in the bowl, and water is being poured on, the whole assembly begin 
to chant appropriate songs, accompanied by the beating of little sticks on a bamboo or log of wood, and this 
is kept up until the dregs of the root have been strained through the fibres of the Vau (different species of 
