.46 PIPERACE&. [ HOUTTUYNIA. 



ous. Species 2, one in N. W. America and the other Indian, extend- 

 ; ing to Siam, China and Japan. 



H.eordata,Tftwi&. FL Jap. 214, t. 26 ; Royle III. 331 ; F. B. 

 J. v, 78 ; Kanjilal For. Fl. ed. 2, 324 ; Collett FL Siml. 429. 



A perennial herb with a creeping rootstock. Stem erect, 1-3 ft. high, 

 leafy, angular, herbaceous, pubescent at the nodes. Leaves cauline, 

 i J-2J in. long and broad, broadly ovate-cordate, acuminate, 5-nerved, 

 abruptly narrowed into the petiole, glabrous or with the nervos pub- 

 escent beneath, gland-dotted ; petiole 1-2 in. ; stipules membranous, 

 linear-oblong, obtuse, emarginate or bifid, adnate to the channelled 

 petiole, cliate on the margins. Spikes J in. long, dense-flowered, 

 elongating in fruit ; bracts J-i in. long, rounded or oblong. Stamens 

 3. 



; Sub-Himalayan tracts in N. Oudh (Duthie). DISTEIB. : Trop. Hima- 

 laya from the Punjab to Sikkim, up to 5,000 ft. ; also Assam, the 

 Khasia Mts. and Ceylon, extending to China and Japan. 



2. PIPER, Linn. ; Fl. Brit, Ind. v, 78. 



Shrubs, rarely herbs, erect or scandent, often glandular and aro- 

 imatic, branches with swollen nodes. Leaves usually entire and 

 often oblique, stipules various. Flowers very minute, dioecious, 

 rarely 2-sexual, spicate, each in the axil of a bract, with or without 

 2 lateral bracteoles ; bracts peltate or cupular, adnate to the 

 rhachis, sometimes decurrent, with or without raised margins ; 

 bracteoles (when present) forming low ridges on each side of the 

 flower or connate in a semilunar form. Stamens 2-4, rarely more ; 

 filaments short, anthers 2-celled, the cells distinct, Ovary 1 -celled, 

 style short, conic, beaked, or none, stigmas 2-5 ; ovule solitary, 

 - erect. Fruit a small ovoid or globose 1 -seeded berry. Seeds 

 usually globose, albumen floury within. Species about 600, in 

 tropical and sub-tropical regions. 



P. brachystachyum, Watt. Cat. 6656 in part ; Royte III. 332 ; 

 F. B. /. v, 87 ; Kanjilal For. Fl. ed. 2, 325 ; Gamble Man. 554 ; 

 Collett Fl. Siml. 430 ; Brandis Ind. Trees 523. Vern. Pahdri pan. 



A glabrous much-branched rambling shrub. Stems often very long 

 climbing on trees and rocks and rooting at the nodes ; branches 

 slender, rigid, terete, the lower often warted. Leaves petioled, 



