16 FLORA OF JAMAICA Pcpcromia 



Amoen. ». 391 & Sp. PI. ed. 2, 43. P. pulchellum Haw. Succ. 8 

 (1812). P. rubellum Haw. Succ. Rev. 3 (1821). (PI. 1.) Type in 

 Herb. Linn. 



On rocky banks amongst shrubs, and on dead trees ; Browne in 

 Herb. Linn. ! Broughton ! Sioartz t Hope River, 1300 ft. ; Bellevue, 

 4500 ft. ; Eggers I St. Helen's Gap, 4800 ft. ; near Latimer, Cinchona, 

 4800 ft. ; Twecdside ; Harris ! J.P. 703, Fl. Jam. 8325, 8331.— Cuba, Mexico. 



Plant 1-3 dm. high. Leaves '8-2 cm. 1., 4-8 mm. br. (in Jamaican 

 specimens) ; stalk 1-3 mm. 1. Spikes terminal and axillary, rhachis some- 

 what lax-flowered, 2-7 cm. 1. ; bracts 2 about the same level, "5 mm. br. 



P. rubella is a form remarkable for the crimson colour of the stem and 

 under surface of leaf, but we cannot find any other distinguishing 

 feature. In PL 1, A, we have figured shoots of cultivated specimens from 

 the Cambridge Botanic Garden and Kew Gardens, which illustrate the 

 extreme variability of this species. 



28. P. stellata A. Bietr. Sp. PI. i. 175 (1831) ; leaves opposite 

 or 3-5 in a whorl, lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or oblong, sub- 

 acuminate to obtuse, 3-nerved, margin revolute (in drying), 

 glabrous on upper surface, puberulous on the nerves underneath ; 

 spikes thin.^ — -Griseh. op. cit. 167; C. DC. torn. cit. 270 (excl. syn. 

 P. rhomboides Dahlst). P. turfosa C. DC. op. cit. v. 297 (1907). 

 Piper stellatum Sw. Prodr. 16 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 74; Jacq. 

 Collect, in. 212 & Icon. Bar. ii. t.217. 



Amongst mosses and peat on rocky banks ; Broughton t Wilson ; 

 J.P. 660, Morris \ Morse's Gap, 4900 ft., Faivcettl near Mabess River, 

 4000 ft. ; near Cinchona ; Morse's Gap ; Harris ! FL Jam. 8164, 8317, 8341. 

 " America meridionalis " (probably Jamaica), Shakespear I " Insulae 

 Caribsese " (probably Jamaica) Masson ! 



Stem puberulous, erect, branching, 3-5 dm. high. Leaves becoming 

 elliptical below, 2-5 cm. L, generally •5-1*5 cm. br. ; stalks 2-5 mm. 1. 

 Spikes 1-3 terminal, solitary axillary, lax-flowered; rhachis 3-7 cm. 1. ; 

 bracts -4- "6 mm. br. ; peduncles 7-15 mm. 1. Berries ellipsoidal-globose, 

 •6-' 7 mm. 1., apical appendage small, round. 



29. P. blanda Kunth in H. B. & K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. i. 67 (1816) ; 

 leaves opposite, sometimes 3 or 4 in a whorl, sometimes solitary, 

 elliptical, obtuse, or shortly acuminate, 3-nerved, sparingly 

 puberulous on nerves of upper surface, pubescent beneath, margin 

 ciliate, covered with minute black dots beneath, sparingly dotted 

 on upper surface, stalks pubescent ; spikes much longer than 

 leaf, lax-flowered, slender, peduncles puberulous. — Hook. Exot. Fl. 

 t. 21 ; C. BC. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt. 1, 458; Baldst. Stud. 131, 

 i. xi.f. 3. Piper blandum Jaeq. Ic. Sar. ii. C. 218. 



Without locality, Broughton I — Tropical continental America to Mexico. 



Stem erect, terete, pubescent, 2*5 dm. high. Leaves blade 2-3(-5) cm. 1. ; 

 1-1-5 cm. br. ; stalks 4-5 mm. 1. Spikes geminate, terminal and axillary, 

 rhachis 3-8 cm. L, 1 mm. br. ; bracts "G-*? mm. br. 



30. P. barbata C. DC. in Urb. Symh. Ant. v. 297 (1907) ; leaves 

 small, opposite or in whorls of 3 cm: 4, round or roundish-elliptical, 

 villose on both sides. 



