PIPERACE^E. 



specimens from Singapur and Penang under the name of P. pedicellosum, 

 No. 6646. The ripe fruit is called Cubebs in the shops ; dried and 

 pounded it is aromatic, pungent, stimulant and purgative, and acts as a 

 specific in arresting gonorrheal discharges. Blume says that the fruits 

 of this, although of good quality, are not sent to Europe : the follow- 

 ing species furnishing the officinal Cubebs. I must however remark 

 that I cannot perceive any difference in the flavour of the dried fruit of 

 this species and of the Cubebs sold in the London shops. 



64-5. P. caninum Humph, v, t. 28. f. 2. Blume act. bat. 

 xi. 214. f. 26. P. Cubeba Roxb. fl. ind. i. 161. Java and 

 Prince of Wales's island. 



Stem rooting, climbing; the young shoots slightly downy. Leaves 

 3^-5 inches long, 1^-3 inches wide, ovate or ovate-oblong, sometimes 

 obliquely subcordate at the base, with about 5 ribs, stalked, when 

 young rather downy ; the terminal ones occasionally lanceolate, triple- 

 ribbed, membranous, downy beneath. Peduncles about the length of 

 the petioles. Spikes monoecious, from i to 2 inches long, curved, and 

 about the thickness of a crow's quill. Fruit red, oval, stalked ; the 

 pedicels 2-3 lines long. Blume. It is considered by Dr. Blume 

 probable that the Cubebs of commerce are chiefly furnished by this 

 species, which is quite distinct from P. Cubeba ; the fruit is smaller 

 and shorter stalked, having a distinct Anise flavour, and is less pungent 

 than in that species. 



646. P. Afzelii. Sierra Leone. (Guinea Cubebs.) 

 A plant with the habit of P. Cubeba ; but the racemes of fruit are 

 twice as long, and the stalks of the fruit are much longer also. Leaves 

 quite smooth, coriaceous, obovate-lanceolate, acuminate, tapering to 

 the base, which is slightly and obliquely cordate, triple-ribbed, the 

 lateral ribs placed close to the margin and anastomosing with about 3 

 lateral veins set upon the midrib at an acute angle ; petiole short and 

 quite smooth. This is the plant which has given rise to the statement 

 that Cubebs are obtained from Guinea ; asserted by Smith in Rees's 

 Cyclopaedia, and repeated by Nees and Ebermaier and others. It is 

 extremely different from either P. Cubeba or caninum, and the quality 

 of its fruit has still to be ascertained. 



*#* Most writers on Materia medica speak of a kind of Cubebs from 

 the Mauritius or Bourbon, and Dr. Theodore Martius says its fruits 

 are not larger than grains of Millett. Fee refers the Bourbon cubebs 

 to P. caudatum VaJil; but that is a Brazilian species. 



PEPEROMIA. 



Stamens 2. Style simple, very small. Stigma like a dot, 

 or peltate. Fruit baccate, always sessile. 



647. P. umbellata Kunth synops. i. 124. Dietrich sp. pi. 

 i. 142. Piper umbellatum Linn. sp. pi. 43. HBK. n. g. et. 

 sp. i. 59. Various parts of South America. 



Stem erect, 3-4 feet high, woody at the base; branches smooth. 

 Leaves very large and rugose, roundish, acute, cordate, membranous, 



314? 



