PEPPER FAMILY (PIPERACEAE) 



12. Higuillo 



This almiulant small tree or shrub is easily rec- 

 ognized by : (1) the yellow-green, slightly zigzag, 

 finely hairy twigs with enlarged, ringed joints 

 (nodes) ; (2) the narrowly elliptic, long-pointed, 

 yellow-green leaves, unequal at base, slightly 

 rough above, with long, slightly curved lateral 

 veins, and aromatic or spicy when crushed: (3) 

 the tiny flowers and fruits crowded in cordlike, 

 curved, lateral axes 3-4 inches long and about Vs 

 inch in diameter; and (4) the jieppery taste and 

 odor of leaves, fruits, and seeds. 



An evergreen tree to '20 feet in height and 4 

 inches in trunk diameter, often branching at or 

 near base and with a spreading crown. The bark 

 is smooth and gray. Inner bark is whitish and 

 peppery or slightly bitter. 



The leaves are alternate, sometimes in 2 rows, 

 with short ]ietioles Vs-Vt inch long. Leaf blades 

 are 5-7 inches long and 1V2^3 inches bi'oad, the 

 base rounded and about Vs inch longer on 1 side, 

 the edges not toothed, thin, the lower surface pale 

 and soft hairy. Under a lens, minute lighter dots 

 are visible in the leaves when held against the 

 light. 



The cordlike, curved flower clusters (spikes) 

 are borne singly opposite a leaf, yellowish but 

 turning to gray green in fruit. The very numer- 

 ous flowei-s, each less than I/32 inch long, consist of 

 4 stamens, pistil with 1-celled ovary and 3 stigmas, 

 and 1 scale (bract). The fruits (drupes) are pale 

 green, somewhat more than I/32 inch long, slightly 



Piper aduncum L. 



juicy, and contain 1 brown or black seed y^^ inch 

 long. Flowering and fruiting throughout the 



The sapwood is wdiitish and hard and is little 

 used, although larger trunks sometimes have been 

 placed in the framework of country homes. Else- 

 where the leaves, fiowei's, and roots have been em- 

 ])li)yed in home medicines and the peppery fruits 

 in seasoning food. 



In forest openings, roadsides, pastures and aban- 

 doned fields, often forming pure thickets in the 

 uu)ist coast, moist limestone, and lower and upper 

 motmtain regions of Puerto Kico. Also in Vieques. 



Public fokests. — Cambalache, Carite, Guaja- 

 taca, Guilarte, Luquillo, Maricao, Rio Abajo, 

 Susiia, Toro Negi-o. 



Raxoe. — Greater Antilles, St. Vincent, Gre- 

 nada, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Also 

 from central Mexico to Peru and Brazil. 



Other common names. — higuillo hoja menuchi 

 (Puerto Rico) ; cordoncillo (Spanish) ; anisillo, 

 guayuyo, guayuyo bianco (Dominican Republic) ; 

 platinillo de Cuba, canilla de muerte (Cuba) ; cor- 

 doncillo bianco, biritac (Guatemala) ; cordoncillo 

 bianco (Nicaragua) ; Spanish elder, Spanish ella, 

 elder, ells, cows-foot (British Honduras) : sureau 

 (Haiti) ; aperta ruao, matico falso (Brazil). 



Besides this species of small tree size, 8 shrubby 

 species of this large tropical genus are recorded 

 from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 



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