Piper — The Cowhage and Related Species. 57 



plate, which are most easily separable by the seeds. One, very wide- 

 spread, has the seeds gray marbled with black ; the second is charac- 

 terized by shiny black seeds, and the third by brown seeds. Id Wight's 

 plate the immature (?) seeds are represented as pale chestnut from which 

 it might well be that his description is based on the brown-seeded plant. 

 As a brown-seeded plant that we have cultivated for three years has the 

 leaflets nearly always obtuse the conclusion seems justifiable that it is 

 the same as that described by Wight. This was received from I. H. 

 Burkill, Esq., Reporter of Economic Products of India, and said to be 

 from wild plants growing in the neighborhood of Calcutta, 8. P. I. No. 

 25,263. It has been grown in the greenhouse at Washington and two 

 seasons at Biloxi, Miss., and Gainesville, Fla. At Biloxi it had barely 

 matured pods when killed by frost December 6. 



To Wight's description may be added: Mature pods 6 to 7 cm. long, 

 subterete, falcate, covered with erect reddish-brown easily-deciduous 

 stinging hairs, each valve of the pod with a strong, nearly central keel 

 extending the whole length; seeds pale to dark brown, about 12 mm. 

 long, 8 mm. wide, not much flattened, the caruncle white. 



On immature pods the pubescence is at first greenish-yellow. Before 

 maturity the hairs on each side of the keel turn reddish first so the pod 

 has the appearance of being longitudinally striped with differently 

 colored hairs. 



Other lots of seed were received from Waliar, Malabar, India, No. 

 01,664 and Kistna, Madras, No. 01,668. Both proved indistinguishable 

 from No. 25,263. 



Stizolobium pruritum officinale n. subsp. 



Leaflets mostly obtuse, inucronate, paler and more pubescent beneath, 

 usually about 10 cm. long; pods falcate, 6 to 7 cm. long, each valve 

 strengthened by a longitudinal nearly central keel extending the entire 

 length, and usually a secondary imperfect ridge near the distal end, the 

 whole covered with erect reddish-brown hairs; seeds 10 to 12 mm. long, 

 6 to 8 mm. wide, not much flattened, the ground color gray, finely 

 sprinkled with minute irregular brown specks and more or less marbled 

 with black, especially on the back; caruncle white, prominent. 



The type was grown from seed obtained from Dr. William Fawcett, 

 Kingston, Jamaica, under S. P. I. No. 21,566 and cultivated in 1909 at 

 Biloxi, Miss. The type specimen is preserved in the Economic Her- 

 barium of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



On immature pods the hairs are yellowish and before ripening the 

 hairs on the keel and margins redden first, so that there is the appear- 

 ance of two longitudinal rows of pale hairs on each side. 



This is the common cowhage of the West Indies, apparently native in 

 America and the only form which does not seem distinguishable from the 

 commonest East Indian form as well as from that generally distributed 

 in Africa, Madagascar, India, and some of the Malayan Islands. As all 

 of its close relatives are Old World plants there can be no question as to 



