piper, DJAXDRIA TniGYNlA. 157 



lengthways to the petioles, lanceolate ; of the sessile leaves within 

 the leaf, single, spathif lai. 



I'EMALE Flowers. Jwew^ sessile, leaf-opposed, pedunckd, 

 e' ct. cvlindiic, lu.bncartd wilh five, or uioie, spiral rows of small, 

 orbicular, peiuiaiitnt, pe tated, one-liowered scales — Cahjx none. — 

 Core/ none. — Stamens none.— Geim- numerous, aggregate, sessile, 

 sub-orbicular. Slyle none or exceedingly short, hligtnas three or 

 four-lobed. — Pericatp aggregate, sub-cyhndrica!, composed of firm- 

 ly united, one-seedtd drupes. — Seed ovate, smooth. 



Obs. It is in Bengal only, so far as I have been able to learn, that this 

 plant is cultivated for its pepper. When the pepper (ament) is full 

 grown, it is gathered and daily exposed to the sun, till perfectly 

 dry ; after which it is packed up in bags for sale. 



The roots, and thickest parts of the creeping stems, when cut into 

 small pieces and dried, form a considerable article of commerce 

 all over India, under the name of Pippula moola; for which pu-poseit 

 is parliculaily cultivated in many of the vallies amongst the Circar 

 mountains. This sort is more esteemed, and bears a higher price 

 than that of Bengal ; where by far the largest proportion is cultivat- 

 ed. It is, as well as the pepper, chiefly employed medicinally, and 

 the consumption of both these drugs is very great. 



Cultivation in Bengal. The long pepper is not propagated 



by seed, but by suckers, and requires to be cultivated upon a rich, 



high, and dry soil. The suckers are transplanted soon after the setting 



in of the periodical rains, and the p( pper (which is preserved merely 



by drying it in the sun), is gathered in the month of January, after 



■which the stalk, and branches of the plant wither, and the roots only 



remain alive. A b/gha of 1 nd (the third of anEnglish acre) will yield 



in the first yt ar about a maund (eighty-four pounds) of the pepper, in 



the second year four maunds ; and in the third six ; after w hich, as the 



plant becomes annually less and less productive, the roots are 



grubbed up, dried, and sold ; and fresh roots, or young shoots are 



set in their stead, the earth requiring merely a slight covering of ma- 



nure.j The plants are never to be watered, and at the commeacs- 



