PIP 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



P IP 



337 



is esteemed among the chiefs, to whom the use of it is mostly 

 confined, because they become intoxicated, and then fall asleep 

 the sooner. The consequences of a free use of this most 

 disgusting liquor are described as dreadful. The eyes and 

 the whole body are inflamed, the skin becomes parched up, 

 exfoliates in scales, and throws out leprous ulcers, till at 

 length decay and consumption ensue : and yet even those 

 who are accustomed to it cannot take the nauseous draught 

 without making wry faces, and their limbs quaking with 

 horror. In Otaheite it is called Ava ; in the Friendly and 

 Sandwich Islands Kava, with a strong aspiration. It is dili- 

 gently cultivated in all the islands of the South Sea, except 

 the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. The ground is dug 

 over several times, and well-cleared from weeds, and then 

 manured with shell or coral lime. 



14. Piper Latifolium; Broad-leaved Pepper. Leaves 

 orbicular, cordate, nine-nerved ; spikes axillary, aggregate, 

 peduncled. This has none of the intoxicating qualities of the 

 preceding, though it is a native of the Society and Friendly 

 Islands, of the New Hebrides, and in short of almost all the 

 islands of the South Sea within the tropics. 



15. Piper Decumanum ; Plantain-leaved Pepper. Leaves 

 cordate, nine-nerved, netted; stems several, shrubby, upright, 

 branched, smooth, a little knobbed, the height of a man or 

 more, an inch and upwards in thickness at the base ; when 

 old, brown; when young, green. When adult, it throws out 

 roots from the joints. It has an aromatic smell, but an un- 

 pleasant taste. Native of t"he Caraccas. 



16. Piper Retictilatum ; Netted-leaved Pepper. Leaves 

 cordate, seven-nerved, netted ; stem round, upright, smooth, 

 a fathom high. The spikes come out from the side of the 

 branches opposite to the leaves; they are slender, and about 

 five inches long, a little bending in the middle, and are 

 closely set with very small herbaceous flowers. Native of 

 Jamaica, Martinico, Hispaniola, and Brazil. 



17. Piper Aduncum ; Hooked-spiked Pepper. Leaves 

 oblong-ovate, acuminate, unequal at the base, veined; spikes 

 solitary, axillary, uncinate. Stems several, shrubby, round, 

 knobbed at the joints, smooth, an inch and more in thickness, 

 branched, ash-coloured, upright, eight feet high. The spikes 

 of flowers come out from the side of the branches, opposite 

 the leaves ; they are slender, five inches long, and incurved, 

 closely set with flowers their whole length. It is called 

 Spanish Alder in Jamaica, where it is a native, as also of 

 Barbadoes, St. Domingo, and the Caraccas. 



18. Piper Macrophyllum. Leaves elliptic-ovate, acumi- 

 nate, smooth, unequal at the base, veined ; petioles appen- 

 dicled; spikes axillary, solitary; stem round, striated. It is 

 a large shrub, two fathoms high. Native of the West Indies. 



19. Piper Geniculatum; Jointed Pepper. Leaves oblong, 

 acuminate, oblique, many-nerved, smooth; stem and branches 

 jointed. Stem subdivided towards the top, round, smooth, 

 about twelve feet high. Native of the stony woods of 

 Jamaica. 



20. Piper Verrucosum ; Warted Pepper. Arborescent: 

 leaves oblong, acuminate, obliquely many-nerved, veined, 

 smooth, coriaceous ; stem and branches warted. This tree 

 is from fifteen to twenty feet high, distinguished from its 

 congeners by its habit, its warted stem and branches, and 

 its large coriaceous leaves. Native of the interior of Jamaica, 

 where it is found on calcareous rocks. 



21. Piper Hispidum; Hairy-leaved Pepper. Leaves ovate, 

 acuminate, oblique, hirsute, wrinkled, nerved, alternate, 

 veined; spikes erect. Stem six feet high, upright, round, 

 hirsute, hispid. Native of the cooler mountains of Jamaica. 



22. Piper Nitidum ; Shining-leaved Pepper. Leaves Ian- 





ceolate-ovate, oblique at the base, smooth, shining. This 

 also is a shrub, the height of a man, very much branched, 

 with a smooth round trunk; flowers very much crowded. 

 It flowers in spring. Native of the mountain-woods of 

 Jamaica. 



23. Piper Pellucidum; Pellucid-leaved Pepper. Leaves 

 cordate, petioled ; stem herbaceous ; stalks succulent seven 

 or eight inches high. The spikes of flowers come out at the. 

 end of the stalks ; they are slender, about an inch long, and 

 straight ; the flowers are very small and sessile, appear in 

 July, and are succeeded by very small berries, each con- 

 taining a small seed like dust. It is annual, and a native of 

 South America and the West India islands, where it is found 

 on the gravelly banks of torrents and rivers, being fond of 

 moisture. In Martinico they eat the leaves as salad, with 

 lettuce alone, with oil and vinegar, and call it Cresson, but 

 its smell and taste are too powerful for most Europeans. 

 It flowers from April to September, and, if the seeds are per- 

 mitted to scatter, the plants will come up without trouble ; 

 or, if the seeds be saved, and sown upon a hot-bed in the 

 spring, the plants will rise easily. Transplant them after- 

 wards into separate pots, and plunge them into a hot-bed of 

 tanner's bark, treating them as other tender plants; but they 

 should not have much water. 



24. Piper Alpinum. Herbaceous : stem erect, nearly 

 simple ; leaves ovate, roundish, acute, veinless underneath ; 

 pikes axillary. Native of the highest mountains of Jamaica, 

 where it flowers in February and March. 



25. Piper Hispidulum. Herbaceous, almost upright : 

 leaves roundish, petioled, very thin, rough-haired above. 

 Roots small, capillary, divided, whitish ; stem two or three 

 inches high, jointed, diffused, round, striated, smooth, pel- 

 lucid, succulent, brittle. The taste is bitter, not aromatic. 

 It is an annual plant, and flowers early in spring. Native of 

 Jamaica, in moist woods on the Blue mountains. 



26. Piper Tenellum. Herbaceous, simple, decumbent : 

 leaves -distich, ovate, veinless, ciliate at the edge; spike 

 ascending. Root small, annual, simple, filamentose ; stem 

 three or four inches high ; flowers very minute ; berry on a 

 pedicel, three times as long as the germen, containing one 

 seed; when ripe it is the size of a small pin's head, 'of a 

 blackish colour, and of an aromatic flavour. Native of Ja- 

 maica on the cooler mountains, on trunks of trees, especially 

 such as are rotten, hanging down among the mess, and 

 flowering in summer. 



27. Piper Acuminatum. Herbaceous : leaves lanceolate- 

 ovate, nerved, fleshy; stem almost upright. Native of South 

 America, in moist woods, commonly on the trunks of rotten 

 trees. 



28. Piper Blandum. Leaves in threes, lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, three-nerved, ciliate, dotted underneath ; stem a 

 foot and half high. Native of the Caraccas. 



29. Piper Amplexicaule. Subherbaceous : leaves lanceo- 

 late-ovate, embracing, nerved, fleshy; stem simple. This 

 species is easily distinguished by the leaves embracing the 

 stem. Native of Jamaica and other West India islands, on 

 rotten trees, and among the remains of those which have 

 fallen. 



30. Piper Pallidum. Leaves alternate, obovate, commonly 

 three-nerved; spikes solitary, subtcrminating. Native of the 

 Society Isles. 



31. Piper Obtusifolium ; Blunt-leaved Pepper. Leaves 

 obovate, nerveless. This sends out from the roots many 

 succulent herbaceous stalks, almost as large as a man's little 

 finger. The spike is straight, erect, and about the size of 

 a goose-quill, closely covered with small flowers, which 



