H0RTU3 JAM AI GENS IS. j-fppe* 



i -\ ? . oi a quill, shredding very much. Leaves alternate, on short petiole*, in a 

 uble .row, a little shorter at the inner base, deep, green above; ragged backwards, 

 i " .,<' " I when examined! .. -li is; Underneath' pale green, villdsebntrfot' nigged, 

 (\u\h end) .. netted with numerous wins, many-nerved, if the principal veinsbecon- 

 red.as in rves ; rh ey are about half a foot in length, and have little taste or smeil. 

 Stipule lanceolate, acute, converging, smooth, striated, caducous. Peduncles alter- 

 nate, Opposite to a leaf, solitary, erect, round, somewhat \ iilu.se, half an inch lone;. 

 Spikes solitary, slender, yellowish, two or three inches in length, -towards the origin 

 at the branches bowed, so closel) covered, with minute fructifications, that it is scarcely 

 possible to detect their structure even with a mi roscope. Jacgmii. tiloane observes 

 that the stems are hollow ; that the leaves have scarcely any footstalks ; that the spikes 

 have anaromatic biting taste, are about four inches Utng, ancj resemble a rat's tail, 

 1 eing generally crooked. He calls it Spanish < '' er. it is frequent in the lowlands of 

 Jamaica. Pisd says the root is aromatic, and in taste, colour, and. smell, resembles 

 ,.er, nd, when fresh, not inferior to it He recommends the decoction and fomes- 

 tatioiV of the leaves and roots for colics, and pains of the limbs. 



3. R0T0NDIPOLIUM. ROUNB-LEArBD. 



Piper longum minimum, herbqtieum, , rattaidijvlium.-*- 



Kine, v.), p. 1J7. Saui'iiius o. Minimus ripens Jvliis orbicu- 

 latis tutneniibucS, Browne, p. lIQI. 

 Herbaceous, leaves roundish, flat, fleshy ; .stem filiform,- creeping. 

 Stems herbaceous, very lone', s ib-.di ided, round, succulent, throwing out short 

 capillary fibres on all sides From the sterns, .'.eaves petioled ; the lower orhiculate, 

 entire; small, smooth, somewhat succaleat, pubescent at the edge, with red spots 

 I low ; the upper or terminating ones somewhat oblong, .smooth on both sides ; spikes 

 terminating, shortly ped round, solitary, small. Sn\ This plant grows tn 



close pfoist woods, ci he mossy trunks of trees, and 'stones covered with moss; 



into which penetrate the fibrils produce. I at its joints, at every one of which grows a. 

 leaf on inch long red pedicels. The spikes have brown spots on them, and the whole 

 plant is succulent. 



4 DJSTAC J.YON. TftTN- SPIKED. 



'Piper longum humilius frucfit e siunmitufe caulis protlewnte. Slonne, 

 v. l, p. I3<5. Bepens Joliis crassis subrotundis glabris, spicisler- 



inir.tt/ibus. Browne, p. 204. 



Leaves ovate-acuminate; spikes conjugate ; stem rooting. 

 Sunt from two to three feet high, climbing, sub-divided, compressed a little, smooth, 

 marked with rufous spots, succulent, Leaves entire, very smooth, notflesKy, three- 

 nerved, paler underneath ; petioles very long, inserted by little sheaths into the stem. 

 Peduncles terminating or axillary, two-parted; spikes upright, linear; stamens and 

 pistils inserted spirally into the spike. S':e. It is a native of rocky grounds in the 

 mountains, and described as follows bv Barham : "This has a creeping jointed root ; 

 the stalks arc round ami green, jointed, Rising seldom above a foot high ; the leaves 

 ire thick, succulent, smooth, and of a dark green colour, having some visible veins 

 ou ihje -upper surface like those of the water-plantain, and sometimes notched at the 

 upper end of the leaf. At the top of the s' Ik Cjwn#s out a slender four- inch spike 



jtUllSj 



