94 



PIPERACEAE. 



mealy, with the minute embryo at the top. Ten genera and over 1000 

 species, widely distributed in tropical regions. 



1. PEPEROMIA R. & P. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, fleshy. 

 Flowers perfect, minute, in dense or open slender spikes furnished with peltate 

 bractlets. Stamens 2 ; filaments usually short ; anthers transversely broadened, 

 2-valved, extrorse, the cavities confluent. Pistil solitary; stigmas forming a 

 brush-like tuft. Outlets small, often minute, with a thin pericarp. [Greek, 

 like pepper.] Over 400 species, most abundant in tropical America. Type 

 species: Peperomia secunda R. & P. 



1. Peperomia septentrionalis S. 

 Brown. Wild Pepper. (Fig. 112.) Peren- 

 nial, fleshy, glabrous; stem branched, the 

 branches spreading or ascending, stout, 

 2"-3" thick, 6'-18' long, the plants often 

 growing in large clusters. Leaves alter- 

 nate, deep green and somewhat shining 

 above, paler green, black-dotted and dull 

 beneath, petioled, ovate, oval, or obovate, 

 obtuse or emarginate at the apex, nar- 

 rowed or obtuse at the base, the l3lades 

 lV-^¥ long, the stout petioles IV long or 

 less, the midvein prominent beneath, the 

 9-11 lateral veins obscure; spikes ter- 

 minal, or borne in the upper axils, solitary 

 or several, 2'-6' long, densely flowered; 

 nutlets minute, about V long, oblong, 

 slightly papillose, with a subulate, straight 

 or slightly curved back. 



Abundant on shaded rocks, Tucker's 

 Town to the Causeway and about the north- 

 ern part of Harrington Sound. Also in the 

 cave near Smith's Parish Church and m 

 Paget Marsh. Flowers from autumn to spring. Endemic. 



The plant probably has its closest relative in Peperomia ohtusi folia (L.) 

 A. Dietr., of the West Indies, but differs in shorter and broader leaves and 

 in features of its minute fruits. These differences are apparent when the two 

 are seen growing together in greenhouses. The fruits of these plants, when 

 ripe, adhere to other objects and the species has probably originated from such 

 fruits brought to Bermuda by a migratory bird, adhering to its feet or plumage, 

 the plant becoming differentiated through isolation. 



The species was first described by Stewardson Brown, in the Proceedings 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1909: 490. Ja. 1910. 

 It was referred to P. ohtusi folia (L.) Dietr., by Reade and by Lefroy, and to 

 P. magnoliaefolia ( Jacq.) A. Dietr., by Hemsley and by Verrill, somewhat doubt- 

 fully. Mr. Brown thought it nearest to P. magnoliaefolia microphijlla Dahlst., 

 of West Indian mountains. Fawcett and Reudle erroneously include it in P. 

 crassicaulis (Fl. Jamaica 3: 8). 



Peperomia arifolia Miq., Peltate Peperomia, Brazilian, grown in green- 

 houses and sometimes on shaded rock-work, has broadly ovate, peltate, acute or 

 acuminate, long-petioled, white-veined leaves 2-4' long, its spikes often 5' long. 



