Piper?[ Piperace(^. 427 



4. P. xiig-rum, L. Sp. PL 28 (1753). IWiris, Gam-miris-wel, 

 S. ItXilaku, T. 



Herm. Mus. 32. Burm. Thes. 193. Fl. Zeyl. n. 26. Moon Cat. 4, 

 Thw. Enum. 292. C. P. 2176. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 90. Wight, Ic. t. 1934 and (/". trioicum) t. 1935. 

 Rheede, Hort. Mai. vii. t. 12. Miquel, 111. Pip. t. 50. 



Stems climbing, rooting sparingly, cylindrical, much 

 thickened at nodes, glabrous, shining ; 1, 5-7 in., ovate-oval, 

 usually broad, rounded or slightly acute at sometimes 

 unequal-sided base, acuminate, acute, generally 7-veined (the 

 two outer ones often faintj, coriaceous, glabrous, paler beneath, 

 petiole 1-I2 i"-) stout; fl^ usually bisexual, spikes 2-3 

 in., slender, bracts oblong, upper part free, concave, very 

 obtuse; stam. 2; styles 2-4; fruiting spike 4-6 in., pendulous, 

 slightly interupted ; fruit not exceeding \ in., nearly globose, 

 not apiculate, at first dark-green, passing through orange 

 yellow to dull red when ripe, bractlets connate above, form- 

 ing the upper margin of a shallow nearly circular cup round 

 the fruit, pulp scanty, seed ovoid-globose, pointed at base, 

 testa thin, hard, smooth, yellow. 



Moist low country, cultivated in gardens but very doubtfully native. 

 Thwaites gives Ambagamuwa as a wild locality. Fl. Sept., Jan., &c. 



Said to be wild in the forests of the Circars, Peninsular India, and 

 perhaps in Malabar, and cultivated in the Tropics generally. This affords 

 ordinary 'black pepper' of commerce. Several varieties are cultivated, 

 distinguished by the size and flavour of the fruits, and the colour and 

 texture of the leaves. The fruit is scarlet when ripe; but inferior 

 varieties remain for a long while yellow, or never become red, and have 

 a bitter flavour mixed with the pure pungency; one of these, with larger 

 leaves paler beneath and more coriaceous, is called ' Bakamuna-miris ' by 

 the Sinhalese, and may be a wild plant here. Miquel's figure quoted 

 above represents a plant (from Burmann's Herbarium) collected in Ceylon 

 in 1773. It has broad 7-nerved leaves and bisexual flowers. 



5. P. zeylanicum, Miq. in Lottd. Joum. Bot. iv. 436 (1845). 

 P. arcuatw/i, Thw. Enum. 293 (part); Cas. DC. 1. c. 360 (non Bl.) 

 and 366. Trim. Syst. Cat. Ceyl. 74. C. P. 2177. 

 Fl. B. Ind. V. 91. 



Stems much thickened at nodes, cylindrical, glabrous; 

 1. small, i|-2| in., ovate or ovate-lanceolate, rounded at base, 

 acuminate, obtuse, glabrous, thick and rigid 5- (or 3-) nerved 

 from base, venation prominent beneath, usually depressed 

 above, petiole \-h in. ; male spikes about i in., very slender, 

 fem. ones shorter and stouter, bracts rounded, imbricate ; 

 stam. 2, styles 2-4 (usually 3), fruiting spike short, f-ij, tor- 

 tuous, fruits numerous, often crowded, about \ in., broadly 

 ovoid. 



Climbing on trees in montane zone above 4000 ft. ; rather common. 

 Fl. April, May. 



