STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 439 



Piper amalago Linn. Piperaceae. 



West Indies. Browne ' says the seeds may replace pepper for seasoning. 



P. betle Linn, betle pepper. 



East Indies and Malay. The leaves are chewed with betel-nut by the Malays and 

 other Indian races. 



P. capense Linn. f. staart pepper. 



South Africa. The pepper is used by the country people in Kafifraria as a spice.' 



P. chaba Hunter. 



Indian Archipelago. The long pepper which is imported by the Dutch is the fruit- 

 spike, collected and dried before it reaches maturity. 



P. clusii C. DC. 



Tropical Africa. This spice was imported as early as 1364 to Rouen and Dieppe 

 from Liberia under the name pepper. In tropical western Africa, it is used as a 

 condiment.' 



P. cubeba Liim. f. cubeb pepper. 



Malay, Java and Penang. Pereira * states that as early as 1305 the product of this 

 tree was used as a condiment in London, although now it is considered a medicine. 



P. longum Linn, long pepper. 



A shrub indigenous to Malabar, Ceylon, eastern Bengal, Timor and the Philippines 

 and cultivated along the eastern and western coasts of India. ^ Its fruits consist of very 

 small, one-sided berries or grains embedded in a pulpy matter, green when immature, 

 and becoming red as it ripens. The fruit is gathered in the green state to form pepper, 

 as it is then hotter than when perfectly ripe. This is the long pepper of commerce. 



P. methysticum Forst. f. 



Sandwich Islands and the Fiji Islands. The root of this plant is used to form an 

 intoxicating drink vmder the name of am, kava or kawa. The root is chewed, thrown 

 into a bowl and water is poured on. It is then strained through cocoa-nut husks, when 

 it is ready for use. 



P. nigrum Liim. pepper tree. 



Indigenous to the forests of Travancore and Malabar, whence it has been introduced 

 into Siunatra, Java, Borneo, the Malay peninsula, Siam, the Philippines and the West 

 Indies.' This tree ftunishes the black pepper of commerce which is the berries gathered 

 before they are perfectly ripe and dried. The white pepper is formed from the decorticated 

 fruits. It is frequently mentioned by Roman writers of the Augustan age and, in the 

 fifth century, Attila demanded 3000 pounds of pepper as a part of the ransom of the city 



' Lunan, J. Horl. Jam. 2:51. 1814. 



' Thunberg, C. P. Tran. 1:170. 1795. 



' Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 589. 1879. 



* U. S. Disp. 340. 1865. 



'Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 524. 1879. 



Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 576. 1879. 



