320 SPICES 



CHAP. 



also to chew with gambir, and is especially used as a 

 substitute for betel leaves when travelling in places 

 where the fresh leaves are not procurable. It sells at a 

 price of from 6 to 15 or 18 cents per catty. 



Piper arnottianum, G. DC., KADOK 



This pepper was described by me in the Bulletin of 

 the Straits Settlements, old series, p. 123, under the 

 name of Piper longum, which it somewhat resembles. 

 It is a low-growing, non-climbing plant, emitting long 

 runners, which creep along the ground ; the flowering 

 stems are erect and about 6 in. tall. The leaves are 

 ovate cordate, polished dark green, 7-nerved, acute, 

 about 4 or 5 in. long, and 3| to 4 in. wide. The spikes 

 are cylindrical and at first white, brownish grey when 

 ripe, not broader at the base than at the tip, and only 

 ^ in. through. It is less pungent than long pepper, and 

 has a peculiar and rather unpleasant bug-like flavour. 

 It is seldom if ever cultivated, as it grows on shady 

 banks everywhere in the Malay peninsula, and is very 

 readily propagated by cuttings. Its spikes are used 

 more as a medicine by the natives than as a spice. 



GRAINS OF PARADISE, OR MELEGUETA 



Grains of Paradise, or Melegueta, are the aromatic 

 pungent seeds of one or more species of the genus 

 Amomum, of the order Scitamineae. Both of these 

 plants are natives of West Africa, where they are more 

 or less cultivated, and also found in a wild state. The 

 seeds of both species appear to be used and sold 

 commercially, under the name Grains of Paradise. 



Amomum Melegueta, Roscoe, is a herbaceous plant 

 with a stout rhizome, sending up leafy stems from 3 

 to 5 ft. tall. The leaves are linear, or linear oblong 

 acuminate. The flowers are borne on a short stem 

 about 2 in. long, hardly rising 1 in. above the 

 ground, and terminated by a spike of reddish bracts, 



