Piper.] cxxiv. PIPERACEJE. (J. D. Hooker.) 89 



branchlets petioles peduncles and leaves beneath sparsely hirsute, leaves 

 petioled rather coriaceous ovate ovate-oblong or -lanceolate obtusely acumi- 

 nate 5-7-nerved from the rounded or subcordate equal or oblique base, 

 spikes long slender, bracts orbicular. Gas. DC. in Prodr. xvi. 1. 366; Dalz. 

 6f Gibs. Bomb. FL 115. 



The CONCAN and CANAKA ; Malmbleshwar and Bababoodan Hills, Law, Cleg- 

 horn, &c. 



Branches stout, terete, angled when dry. Leaves 3-5 by lf-2 in., brownish 

 when dry, glabrous above, nerves beneath slender, nervules transverse ; petiole \-\ in. 

 Male spikes 3-6 in., flexuous, peduncle equalling the petiole; bracts glabrous; 

 stamens 2. Fruiting spikes 3-6 in. ; bracts sometimes adnate below and shortly 

 decurrent; scar glabrous within. A distinct species, but the fruiting spikes are 

 immature, and the bracts being sometimes decurrent, it should perhaps be removed to 

 Sect. Eupiper. 



30. P. Schmidt ii, Hoolc.f.; shrubby, quite glabrous, branches woody 

 terete, leaves petioled very coriaceous ovate-oblong or -lanceolate acuminate 

 5-nerved from above the . base, nerves alternate, base rounded or acute 

 strongly reticulated on both surfaces, peduncles longer than the petioles, 

 male spikes 4-6 in., female shorter fruiting with a very thick flexuous rachis, 

 fruit globose or ovoid, bracts orbicular; P. arborescens, in 'part, Miq. Syst. 

 Pip. 320; Wight Ic. t. 1940, right-hand figure ; Cas. DC. in DC. Prodr. 

 xvi. 1.359, the Nilgliiri plant only. P. nigrum, Wall. Cat. 6643 D, the 

 lower specimen only. ? P. arcuatum, y. quintuplinervium, Cas. DCJl. c. 360. 



NILGHIBI MTS., Schmidt, Wight, &c. 



A large shrub, clothing trunks of trees ; branches usually drying black. Leaves 

 3-4 by 1-2 in., drying brown ; nerves beneath very stout, sometimes whitish beneath, 

 margin often recurved; petiole stout, ^ in. Male spikes stout, peduncle twice as 

 long as the petiole; female stout, very dense-fld. Fruiting spike variable, often 

 tortuous, rachis usually very thick. Fruit in some very fleshy and described by 

 Wight as oblong, in others less fleshy and quite globose. I cannot imagine this to 

 be what Roxburgh intended as the Moluccan P. arborescens, and of which he 

 says the peduncles are about as long as the petioles, and which Miquel describes as 

 having puberulous nervules beneath, and short male spikes. The Ceylon plant 

 (C. P. 2461), referred to by Thwaites and Cus. DC. as P. arborescens, is P. argyro- 

 phyllum. Wallich's 6643 E from Peuang, referred by Miquel both to P. arbores- 

 cens (Syst. Pip. 320) and to P. attenuatum (p. 307), is P. porphyrophyllum. 



31. P. nepalense, Miq. Syst. Pip. 318; shrubby, quite glabrous, 

 leaves petioled membranous or thinly coriaceoas elliptic-ovate or -oblong or 

 -lanceolate more or less caudate-acuminate 5-7-nerved above the equal or 

 oblique acute or rounded base, male spikes long slender, fruiting spike long 

 or short, rachis densely tomentose, bracts orbicular, fruit -ovoid sessile gra- 

 nulate. Cas. DC. in Prodr. xvi. 1. 357. P. peepuloides, Wall. Cat. 6650 B. 

 Piper Nos. 5 and '20 (for the most part], Herb. Ind. Or. H.f. $ T. 



SUBTEOPICAL HIMALAYA, alt. 3-5000 ft., from Garwhal, Edgeworth, to Bhotan 

 and Mishmi, Griffith. KHASIA MTS., alt. 3-5000 ft., Griffith, &c. 



Branches slender. Leaves very variable, 3-5 by 1-3 in., base rarely rounded 

 or cordate; petiole. |-| in. Spikes 2-7 in.; bracts sessile. Fruiting spikes often 

 6 in., puberulous, straight or flexuous. Fruit J in. long, pointed.- -The commonest 

 Himalayan and Khasian species. No. 20 Herb. H.f. Sf T. appears To be a form with 

 broader and more coriaceous leaves, for the flowers and fruit afford no character. 



32. P. khasianum, Cas. DC. in Prodr. xvi. 349, in part-, glabrous 

 or peduncles and petioles sparsely pubescent, leaves petioled membranous 

 lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate caudate-acuminate 5-nerved above the equal 



