PEPEROMIA 



7. latiidlia, Miq. Stem 10 in. high, decumbent: Ivs. 

 obovate or obtusely ovate, o-7-nerved, opposite or in 

 whorls of 3, base acute, glabrous above, pubescent be- 

 neath , petiole 7-8 lines long Sandwich Islands - 

 "Monocaipic annual or biennial 



s nummulanfblia, HBK Delicate creeper, with long 

 thii 1(1 like, rooting stems and small orbicular 1\ s , pu 

 biiul.)us or glabrate Ivs alternate, ciliate, obscui eh 

 I iliii lie h 3 nerved, 3-4 lines in diam Trop Amer — 



PEPPER 



1273 



to iMi.il t\v lilili I 111 in li I \s boideied ali<l 



'I br6^lpe^ < I" I\ ilt mii ibuuhte jounger 



,„i, ' n T 11 1 ,1 , ,1 ' 1 1 1, Mtd stjle 



11. 1 ' I I I ji Amer — 



111 1 1 I I ti-^ed, but 



,1, , '„ to this 



S|,. Ill I , J , „ , I, 1,11 t 



10 pubiiolia \i_itch Pcrcnnul creeper of unknown 

 haliit It Mill ililt tor hanging baskets Lvs small, o\ ate 

 ni iiki d « ith I Ltntral grav bar 



P le^idilluia \ii.lr. nf ml"! ■- 1 f mi I u, ill rr. 



PEPINO or MELON SHRUB is Solanum mmuutin. 



FEFdNIA (Greek, melon, gonia 

 ic^tn species of tropical perennial 

 ( indent often villous with hbious i 



U94 alludes to it as a condinu-nt. Writers about a cen- 

 tury later considered it valuable as an aid to digestion 

 and also mentioned its use in dressing meats, dyeing, 

 and other purposes Medicinally it was much used for 

 \ arious aliments, such as dropsy, colic, ague and tooth- 

 ache, and when mixed with honey and applied exter- 



^^^^^.^ 



'I,,,. 



The Rii 



km,, ' 



mackennu ii P m i h in m i congeners 



\ tbi t.ill..\Mii„ I lur u tii> Us bioidho\itt cordate, 



lobid to the middle male lis solitar> , laljxtuhe 

 iibglabrous narrowed from apex to base It is hardh 

 : and( lit ileiisel_\ mIIous and the stem grows K-*i ft 

 mi.': Ivs. 4 in. long: petals over 1 in. long: fr. oblong- 

 vuid, about the size of a hen's egg, green at first, then 

 laililiii with white, finally all red; pulp orange-col- 

 rcil, insipid. Xatal. 



PEPPEE. The 



Pi'pperof commerce 

 iiierican horticultur- 

 I Pepper (Capsicum, 

 upper is merely the 



The ri'd Pepper is doubtless a native of the 

 World tropics, as tliere is no record of its having 

 known prior to the discovery of America, .\i-i-ordii 

 lrviiii,''s "Life of Columbus," this iilani .' i lii i 

 tioiicd liy Martyr in 1493, who says r<. : :i 



home " I*epper more pungent than thill t i < . 



evidently comparing it with the blaik l-|M"i'i 



merce from the oriental countries. It was cultivate 



the natives in tropical and southern America before 



time, and about a century later Gerarde speaks o 



being brought into European gardens from Africn 



.southern Asia. The ease with which th- fi — t s,.r 



in warm latitudes, together with the ii 



cial trade immediately following the 1 



ica, doubtless caused a rapid diss, - 



tropical .\sia and Africa, where it ■ 



Tian>- to III' iiiiliirenous and from there ititriniiii'i-il 



nallv was used as a remed> for quinsj A a later date 

 preparations were given for black vomit and various 

 tropical fev ers and for a tonic, also tor gout, paraljsisand 

 other diseases Its modern use is largely as a condiment, 

 forming a seasoning m almost every dish eaten bj the 

 inhabitants of warm countries The smaller \aiieties 

 are mostlj used for this purpose. The caj t niii Pi pper 

 of commerce consists of the small punyi nt s.nts n 

 duced to a powder. The unground fruit is aN,, ma,!, 

 into Pepper sauce of various brands by j'ns. rxini: in 

 brine or strong vinegar. The Tabasco vari<i> tnriiisliis 

 the well-known Tabasco Pepper sance and Taliascii cat- 

 sup. "Chilli con carnie" consists of the small imiigent 

 varieties finely ground and mixed with meat. These hot 

 varieties are often eaten raw by native Mexicans, as we 

 do radishes, and also form an important ingredient of 



tomales so con 

 known in the sn 

 fleshed sweet 



mtry and fairly well 

 itates. The large, thick- 

 csired more by people 



11 various ways, served 



II , II ,-i:,ii , vMili vinegar 



-, ...,,, . . 1 : . , •.. 1 ,...-. The 



],.•! I - 111-.' ilirn 1 1. .1 i.iL'r I Im r, |i' i in mr- •■' '■ i> \-iiiegar 



ing pitted olives after being cooked in olive oil. In 

 Spain some are canned after being tlius cooked and 

 eaten with French salad dressing. The seed of Peppers 

 is more or less used as a bird food ; and the plants of 

 some varieties, like Little Gem and Celestial, are grown 

 more especiallv for ornamental purposes. 



Some 30 varieties are recorded by American seeds- 

 men. They differ from one another mainly in the form 

 and pungency of fruit and habit of growth. There are 

 endless forms among Peppers, but certain types are 

 well fixed, as indicated by the botanical varieties under 

 Capsicum. While all kinds are more or less pungent 



