Piperacea?.] piperacejj. 335 



Order CI. PIPERACEJE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, in closely packed spikes or rarely in 

 racemes, each with a subtending bract. Perianth none. Stamens 2 to 10. 

 Ovary 1 -celled, with 1 erect ovule. Stigmas 2 to 6, sessile or on a short 

 style. Fruit a 1-seeded berry. Embryo minute, in the top of a fleshy albu- 

 men. — Herbs, shrubs, or climbers, sometimes succulent, often articulate at 

 the nodes. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, entire, with or without sti- 

 pules. 



A considerable Order, almost entirely tropical, ranging over the New and the Old World. 



1. CHAVICA, Miq. 



Flowers dioecious. Bracts stipitate, peltate. Stamens 2 to 4. Ovary ses- 

 sile, with 3 to 6 sessile stigmas. Berries closely packed, often uniting with 

 or half-immersed in the more or less succulent rhachis. — Shrubs or woody 

 climbers. Leaves alternate. Spikes solitary, pedunculate, leaf-opposed. 



A considerable genus, confined to tropical Asia. 

 Leaves broadly ovate, glabrous. Female spikes 3 or 4 lines long . . 1. C. sarmentosa. 

 Leaves ovate or oblong, pubescent, at least underneath. 



Leaves oblique at the base. Spikes erect or spreading 2. C. puberula. 



Leaves deeply and equally cordate. Spikes retlexed ...... 3. C. sinensis. 



1. C. sarmentosa, Miq. Syst. Pip. 242. A glabrous shrub or under- 

 shrub, creeping at the base ; the flowering branches ascending or climbing. 

 Leaves broadly ovate or nearly orbicular, shortly acuminate, 2 to 3 in. long, 

 truncate or broadly cordate at the base, 5- to 7 -nerved, the upper pair united 

 with the midrib higher up. Male spikes said to be near 1 in. long. Fe- 

 male spikes 3 to 4 lines long or 5 to 6 when in fruit, on pedicels of 4 to 6 

 lines. Bracts peltate, glabrous, j line diameter. Stigmas 3 to 5, at first 

 scarcely prominent, afterwards recurved. — Piper fragile, Benth. in Lond. Journ. 

 Bot. ii. 234. Chavica Benthamiana, Miq. Syst. Pip. 233. Chavica Betle, 

 Seem. Bot. Her. 415 ; not of Miq. 



Hongkong, Hance. In Java, Borneo, and New Guinea. Besides the shape of the leaves, 

 this is at once known from the C. Betle by the remarkably short spikes. 



2. C. puberula, Benth., n. sp. Branches terete, slender, softly pubes- 

 cent when young. Leaves shortly stalked, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-acumi- 

 nate, 2 to 4 in. long, very oblique and half-cordate at the base, 5- to 7 -nerved, 

 with the upper nerves united higher up, pubescent on both sides when young, 

 nearly glabrous above when old. Male spikes' slender, 1 in. long or rather 

 more, on pedicels of 2 to 3 lines. Bracts stipitate, peltate, glabrous. Sta- 

 mens usually 3. — Piper arcuatum, Seem. Bot. Her. 415 ; not of Miq. 



Hongkong, Hance. Not seen in any other collection. It has the bracts of a Chavica, 

 not of a Piper, and differs in several essential points from Miquel's character and figure of 

 Piper arcuatum. 



3. C. sinensis, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. 116. Stems creeping; 

 the young branches softly pubescent. Leaves from ovate to oblong, obtuse or 

 nearly so, 3 to 5 in. long, deeply and almost equally cordate; the rounded 

 auricles almost overlapping, 5- or 7 -nerved and reticulate, glabrous above, 

 softly pubescent underneath. Spikes retlexed, on short thick peduncles; the 



