VIII 



PEPPERS 249 



spikes ; males resembling the ivy-leaved form, but the 

 leaves not markedly wavy, the spikes brown, red, and 

 hairy. Apparently a hill form which has crept down 

 into the lower estates. 



Pouched pepper resembles the bigberry, but the 

 bracts are developed into pouches or cushions, on which 

 the male and female organs are situated. It is a dis- 

 tinct species, and known as Piper tricliostachyon. [_It is 

 remarkable for the fragrance of the young spikes, which 

 are thick and whitish yellow. 



In Borneo, Sarawak, Mr. Hewitt found two forms 

 in the Chinese pepper gardens, a small-leaved and a 

 large-leaved formal The latter has many of its leaves 

 resembling those of the small-leaved variety, but some 

 few are considerably larger. The small-leaved one is 

 more prolific and is preferred^ In most gardens there 

 are one or two male plants. They are indistinguishable 

 from the small-leaved form till they fruit, when they 

 only produce a little fruit. Some of the Chinese 

 gardeners look with favour on the male vine, and one 

 man affirms that if there were no males in the garden, 

 a plant of the Betel pepper (Piper betle) was cultivated 

 in the garden to act as a male. However this may be, 

 it is usual to find one betel pepper or more in a Chinese 

 pepper garden. * 



Trang Pepper. This is the name of a variety culti- 

 vateUTn the most northern of the Siamese western states, 

 known as Trang. An account of a visit to this region 

 by Mr_-K. Derry is published in the Bulletin of the 

 Straits Settlements in 1909 (vol. viii. p. 240), the 

 object of the expedition being to secure plants for culti- 

 vation in the Malay Peninsula. {The plant possesses a 

 more decided fruiting season than the other peppers. 

 In April not a spike of flowers or fruit was to be seen. 

 The fruit is produced in the dry season only, and 

 therefore does not run the risk of damage from rain.^ 

 The peppercorns are the smallest of all varieties, the 

 spikes being about 3 in. long, but the fruit possesses the 



1 J. Hewitt, Agricultural Bulletin of Straits Settlements, vol. vii. p. 189. 



