p I p 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



PI P 



335 





from the ground under their branches, they have a greater 

 appearance of dead than living trees. But where they have 

 been allowed a good distance, and planted in a strong fresh 

 soil, they have had their branches quite feathered within six 

 or eight feet of the ground, and that too in trees upwards of 

 sixty feet high : hence they ought not to be planted nearer 

 than twelve feet apart, nor should they be so near where the 

 plantation is more than three rows deep ; then eighteen or 

 twenty feet will be quite near enough, especially where the 

 trees are designed to have the branches feathered near the 

 ground, in which one of their chief beauties consists. Native 

 of mountains in various parts of Europe, and the north of 

 Asia, in places watered by alpine rills. 



24. Pinus Alba; White Spruce Fir Tree. Leaves solitary, 

 four-cornered, the lateral ones curved in ; branches almost 

 naked beneath; cones subcylindrical. See the twenty-second 

 species for farther particulars. 



25. Pinus Orientalis; Oriental Fir Tree. Leaves solitary, 

 four-cornered. Native of the Levant. 



26. Pinus Fraseri : Double Balsam Fir. Leaves solitary, 

 erect; cones ovate-oblong, erect; bracteoles elongate, reflex, 

 oblong-cuneate, emarginate, slightly mucronate, inciso-denti- 

 culate. Grows on the high mountains of Carolina, and on 

 the broad mountains of Pennsylvania > 



27. Pinus Taxifolia ; NootkaFir. Leaves solitary; planes 

 subdistich; cones oblong; anthers didymous. Grows on the 

 banks of the river Columbia, and on the north-west coast of 

 America. This elegant and tall tree has some resemblance 

 to the Pinus Canadensis, but the leaves are more than twice 

 the length, and entire; the cones also are longer, and dif- 

 ferently shaped. 



Piper; a genus of the class Diandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Galix: spathe none, perfect; spa- 

 dix filiform, quite simple, covered with florets ; perianth 

 none. Corolla: none. Stamina: filamenta none ; antheree 

 two, opposite, at the root of the germen, roundish. Pistil : 

 germen larger, ovate ; style none ; stigma three-fold, hispid. 

 Pericarp: berry roundish, one-celled. Seed: single, globu- 

 lar. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : none. Corolla: 

 none. Berry : one-seeded. The species are, 



1 . Piper Nigrum ; Black Pepper. Leaves ovate, com- 

 monly seven-nerved, smooth; petioles quite simple. Stem 

 shrubby, very long, round, smooth, jointed, swelling towards 

 each joint, slender, branched, scandent or trailing, rooting at 

 the joints ; flowers sessile, lateral, and terminating in simple 

 longish spikes, opposite to the leaves ; berry globular, of a 

 red brown colour. It grows spontaneously in the East Indies 

 and Cochin-china, and is cultivated with such success in Ma- 

 lacca, Java, and especially Sumatra, that it is exported from 

 thence, and from Cochin-china, to every part of the world, 

 wherever a regular commerce has been established. White 

 Pepper was formerly supposed to be of a different species 

 from Black; it is however nothing more than the ripe berries 

 deprived of their skin, by steeping them about a fortnight in 

 water, and afterwards drying them in the sun. The berries 

 also that fall to the ground when over-ripe, lose their outer 

 coat, and are sold as an inferior sort of White Pepper. Black 

 Pepper is the hottest and strongest, and therefore most com- 

 monly used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. It 

 differs from most of the other species in this, that its pungency 

 resides not in the volatile parts or essential oil, but in a sub- 

 stance of a more fixed kind, which does not rise in the, heat 

 of boiling water. This fixed substance is probably the resin- 

 ous part: the aromatic odorous matter seems to depend upon 

 the essential oil. The distilled oil smells strongly of the 

 Pepper, but has very little acrimony; and the remaining 

 VOL. ii. 94. 



decoction, inspissated, yields an extract of considerable pun- 

 gency. A tincture made in rectified spirit is extremely hot 

 and fiery. Some have supposed Pepper to be less heating to 

 the system than other aromatics. It is generally used as an 

 aromatic and stimulant; and has been successfully employed 

 in some cases of vertigo, in paralytic and arthritic disorders. 

 Given in large doses, it has been found a remedy for intermit- 

 tents ; but it is said, in some instances, to have produced 

 fatal consequences in this disorder. The berries are excellent 

 against all coldnesses and crudities at the stomach. They 

 give an appetite in such cases, and help digestion ; they are 

 also good for dizziness of the head, in obstructions of the 

 liver, and against the colic. We frequently neglect things 

 as medicines that we use for food ; but there are few things 

 of its kind so strong as Pepper, when taken alone, and on an 



empty stomach. The following is a brief account of the 



method of planting and cultivating the Pepper vines, at Telli- 

 cherry on the Malabar coast. They are planted in low firm 

 ground. In the beginning of June, when the rain falls inces- 

 santly, at the foot of a Jack, Mango, Cajou, Murica, or any 

 other tree, the bark of which is rough and prickly, they dig 

 a hole one foot deep, six inches in length and breadth, and 

 into this hole put a piece taken from the extremity of one of 

 the branches of a Pepper vine. They then fill it up with 

 earth, taking care that no water shall have access to the plant. 

 In the month of July, the roots are found to extend them- 

 selves, and the sprouts appear on the surface, and are tied to 

 the tree, when a circular bank of earth is thrown up round 

 them, that they may enjoy the moistness of the water, which re- 

 mains on the ground, and be thereby kept from being inflamed 

 by the heats, which last till October. When the rains are over, 

 they cover the roof of the vine with fresh leaves, it matters 

 not from what tree, if they do but possess a cooling quality. 

 When the ground is too dry, they water it morning and even- 

 ing, but only twice in eight days when they find it perfectly 

 cool. They plant five or six sprigs at the foot of the same 

 tree, taking particular care that they do not touch one another. 

 Ten days after the rains are set in, they remove the leaves 

 that cover the root of the vine, pull up the neighbouring grass, 

 and demolish the circular bank of earth made to contain the 

 water, that none may remain at the foot of the tree. This 

 they repeat in the month of August; and cherish the vines in 

 this manner for three years. It must be observed, that the 

 foot of the vines should be covered every year in the manner 

 before mentioned. If the vine should be once overpowered 

 by heat, it will begin to languish, and produce no fruit; so 

 that it is necessary to follow the preceding instructions. The 

 leaves ought likewise to be removed in the month of June, 

 to prevent the white ant from eating the root of the vine, those 

 vermin being much given to eat the leaves, which the rain 

 draws into the ground, and thereby come to the roots of the 

 vine, which they prey upon likewise. Observe also that the 

 Pepper vine in its native countries is not too much affected 

 by the heat of the sun, on account of the proximity of water. 

 It is never planted at the foot of trees with smooth barks, 

 as it would soon fall to the ground. All the plants of this 

 genus require a warm stove to preserve them in England. 

 They may be propagated by seeds, if seeds can be procured 

 fresh from the countnes where they grow naturally. They 

 should be sown upon a good hot-bed in the spring, and 

 when the plants come up, and are fit to transplant, they 

 should be each put into a separate small pot filled with light 

 fresh earth, and replunged into a hot-bed of tanner's bark, 

 shading them every day till they have taken fresh root; then 

 they must be treated in the same way as other tender exotic 

 plants, admitting fresh air to them daily, in proportion to 

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