22 FLORA OF JAMAICA Piper 



3. P. nigrrinodum G. DC. in Urh. Symh. Ant. v. 294 (1907) ; 

 leaves ovate, at base rounded ; spike nearly twice as long as leaf. 



Black Jointer. 



Near Troy, 1500 ft., Harris ! Fl. Jam. 9075. 



Shrub 10 ft. high. Branches glabrous, striate, slender, flexuose, jointed, 

 black. Leaves small, apex acuminate, thinly membranous (when dry), 

 with very numerous minute pellucid dots, glabrous on both sides ; limb 

 4*5-7 cm. 1., 2*5-4 cm. br. ; stalks slender, glabrous, 5-7 mm. 1. Spikes 

 somewhat dense (in fr.), about 8 cm. 1. ; peduncles glabrous, 10-13 mm. 1. 

 Berries about 2 mm. 1. 



§ 2. Spikes opposite the leaves. Leaves palmatinerved (the 

 two upper lateral nerves springin;^ from a point alx)ve 

 the base), the sides slightly unequal at the base. Flowers 

 not in a distinct ring or spiral. Bracts subcucuUate. 

 Berries more or less distant from one another, at apex 

 mucronare. 



4. P. discolor Sw. Prodr. 15 (1788), Fl. Lid. Occ. 52 & Ic. 

 ined. t. 55. — -P. Swartzii G. DC. in TJrh. Symh. Ant. Hi. 202. 

 Type in Herb. Stockholm. 



Sioartz ! Wilson ; March ; near Whitfield Hall Works, Blue Mts, ; 

 below Vinegar Hill, 3500 ft. ; between Askenish and Dolphin Head ; 

 Harris ! Fl. Jam. 5175, 7447, 8347, 9254. 



Shruh 8-10 ft. high. Branches, younger puberulous, afterwards 

 glabrate. Leaves elliptical to broadly elliptical, at base unequal-sided, 

 generally rounded on the longer side and acute on the shorter side, 

 acuminate, on both sides glabrous, membranous, with very numerous 

 pellucid dots, 6-7*5 cm. 1., 3-5*75 cm. br., difference between the sides 

 of the limb 2-4 mm. ; stalks glabrate, 4-G mm. 1. Spike somewhat shorter 

 than the leaf, becoming somewhat lax in fruit ; peduncle glabrate, longer 

 than the leaf-stalk. 



§ 3. Spikes opposite the leaves. Leaves penninerved, the 

 sides not equal at the base. Flowers in distinct spirals 

 or rings. Bracts peltate. Berries crowded together and 

 more or less angled by pressure, at apex blunt. 



A. Leaves penninerved to apex, very unequal at base ; petiole 

 grooved, with a margin to the groove. 



5. P. tuberculatum Jacq. GoUed. v. 7 (1786-96); leaves 

 puberulous on nerves and veins beneath. — Jacq. Ic. Bar. ii. 2, 

 t. 211. G. DG. in Urh. Symh. Ant. Hi. 177. 



Bertero ; Macfadyen !— Cuba, Porto Kico, Guadeloupe, Tobago, Trinidad, 

 Mexico, Panama, Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela. 



Tree about 16 ft. high. Bratiches younger puberulous or glabrate. 

 Leaves ovate-elliptical or oblong, base rounded on both sides, sometimes 

 subcordate, apex obtuse to subacute, glabrous above, puberulous on nerves 

 and veins below, penninerved to apex, membranous (when dry), sparingly 

 gland-dotted, 9-14 cm. 1., 4-6 cm. br.; difference between the sides of the 

 limb to 15 mm. ; stalks puberulous, 7 mm. 1. Spike as long as, or longer 

 than, the leaf ; peduncle puberulous or glabrate. 



