10 FLORA OF JAMAICA Peperomia 



or two lower pairs springing from near the base; limb 4 '5-8 cm. 1., 

 3- 5-4 -8 cm. br. ; stalks -5-2 cm. I. Sjn/ces solitary or geminate, terminal ; 

 rhachis 5-10 cm. 1., 2-3 mm. br. ; common peduncle 3-5-5 cm. 1., pedun- 

 cles 2-4 cm. 1. Berries ellipsoidal-cylindrical, -9 mm. 1., beak '6 mm. 1. 



B. Leaves peltate. 



13. P. hernandiifolia -4. Dietr. torn. cit. 157 (1831); leaves 

 peltate at ;\- to \ of their length from the base, large, 6-8 cm. 1., 

 ovate, long-stalked, minutely puberulous beneath, especially 

 along the central nerve; spikes solitary. — Oriseh. op. cit. 166; 

 Dahht. op. cit. 71, t. II. 14; C. DC. in TJrh.Symh. Ant. Hi. 246 & 

 iv. 189. P. Ponthieui Miq. op. cit. 186 (1843). Piper hernandi- 

 folium Vahl Enum. i. 344 (1804). 



On trees and trailing on steep slopes in the shade ; Swartz I Caley ! 

 March; Greenwich Wood, Blue Mts. ; near Mabess River, 3800 ft. ; near 

 Hardware Gap, 4000 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 8339, 10119.— Cuba, Porto Rico, 

 Saba, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Slartinique, St. Vincent, Grenada, Costa 

 Rica, Venezuela, Brazil. 



Stem creeping and rooting at nodes, minutely puberulous. Leaves 

 ovate or broadly ovate, rounded at the base, apex abruptly acuminate, 

 acute, 4-5-5 cm. br. ; stalk minutely puberulous, 5-9 cm. 1. Spikes on 

 branches which are terminal, axillary or sometimes opposite a leaf ; rhachis 

 dense-flowered, 2-5-4 cm. 1., 2 mm. br. ; bracts small, -3 mm. br., 5-6 on 

 same level on one side ; peduncle minutely puberulous, including the 

 branch longer than the petiole. Berries -8- -9 mm. 1., ellipsoidal or slightly 

 ovate-ellipsoidal; apical appendage slightly curved, -G-'T mm. 1. 



14. P. maculosa Hooh. Exot. Fl. t. 92 (1825) ; leaves peltate 

 a little above the base, large, 12-20 cm. 1., ovate to ovate-ellip- 

 tical, long-stalked, pubescent underneath ; spikes 2 terminal.- — 

 Dahht. op. cit. 71, t. II. 15 ; C. DO. in Urb. Symh. Ant. Hi. 245 

 & iv. 189. Saururus hederaceus &c. Plum. Descr. PI. Amer. 

 50, /. 66. Piper maculosum L. Sp. PL 30 (1753). 



In rocky woodland ; Abbey Green, 3800 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 6430, 

 8312. — Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico. 



Stem sparingly pubescent, rooting below, succulent, 5 mm. thick, of 

 light green colour, mottled with brownish-crimson blotches. Leaves, base 

 rounded or subcordate, apex shortly and acutely cuspidate, blade 8-11 cm. 

 br., pinnate-nerved, upper surface dark shining green with whitish nerves, 

 under surface greenish-white ; stalks 5-18 cm. 1., like the stem, pubescent. 

 Spikes, each with an ovate acute bract at the base ; rhachis fleshy, dense- 

 flowered, 1-5-3 dm. 1., 5 mm. br. below; bracts -6--8 mm. br., round or 

 somewhat elliptical, 5-7 about the same level on one side; peduncles 

 3-4-5 cm. 1. Berries 1 mm. 1., roundish-ellipsoidal; apical appendage 

 elliptical with stigma subceutral, beak nearly as long as berry. 



P. variegata Buiz <£ Pav. Fl. Per. i. 33. t. 52, a. (1798) ; the type speci- 

 men from Peru in Herb. Mus, Brit, is glabrous, but otherwise agrees with 

 P. maculosa. 



15. P. distaehya A. Dietr. torn. cit. 156 (1831) ; leaves gener- 

 ally very shortly peltate, somewhat large, 4*5-9 cm. 1., ovate or 



