PIPERACEAE 169 



formed of the enlarged hardened bracts and bracteoles together forming 

 2-vaIyed cavities enclosing the compressed, winged achenes, the wing 

 terminal. 



A single genus, species mostly Australian, a few Malayan and Polynesian. 

 1. CASUARINA Forster 



Characters of the Family. (From the Latin name of the cassowary, en 

 account of the resemblance of the branches to the feathers of that bird.) 



Species about 25, 3 in the Philippines, one cultivated in our area. 

 1. C. equisetlfolia Forst. Agoho (Tag.). 



A dioecious tree, 15 m high or less, the crown narrowly pyramidal, 

 resembling some of the conifers in appearance. Branchlets very slender 20 

 cni long or less, deciduous, composed Of many joints, the internodes 1 cm 

 long or less. Somewhat 6- to 8-angled, sulcate. Staminate spikes slender, 

 1 to 3 cm long. Cones usually ellipsoid, 1 to 2 cm long, composed of about 

 12 rows of achenes enclosed in the hardened bracts. 



Cultivated for ornamental purposes, fl. most of the year; widely dis- 

 tributed in the Philippines along the seashore and some rivers, the wood 

 very hard. India to Australia and Polynesia; cultivated in other tropifckl 

 countries. 



34. PIPERACEAE ^ (Pepper or Icmo Family) 



Succulent herbs or climbing woody or subherbaceous vines, usually 

 aromatic. Leaves simple, entire, alternate, rarely opposite or whorled, 

 frequently inequilateral ;' stipules none or 2 and connate, or adnate to the 

 petiole. Flowers minute, 1- or 2-sexual, rarely perfect, in axillary or 

 terminal, usually slender, catkin-like spikes. Perianth none. Stamens 2 

 to 6. Ovary 1-celled ; ■ stigriia se'ssile, simple or penicillate; ovules solitary. 

 Fruit a small, ovoid or globose drupe, often in dense, fleshy, cylindric spikes. 



Genera 9, species 1,200 or more in the tropics of both hemispheres, 2 

 genera and about 125 species in the Philippines. 



Low succulent herbs with minute fruits, the stigmas usually penicillate. 



1. Peperomia 



Climbing suifrutescent or somewhat woody vines, the fruits not minute, the 



stigmas not penicillate. 2. Piper 



1. PEPEROMIA Ruiz & Pavon 



Annual or perennial, small, simple or branched, succulent herbs. Leaves 

 alternate, opposite, or whorled, entire, without stipules. Spikes terminal 

 or leaf-opposed, solitary or fascicled, rarely axillary. Flowers minute, 

 perfect, sessile or sunk in the rachis 'of the slender spikes, bracteate. 

 Stamens 2. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled; stigma usually penicillate. Fruit 

 minute, indehiscent. (Greek "pepper-like.") 



Species 400 or more, in all tropical .cduntries, chiefly American, 22 in the 

 Philippines. 



Leaves 1 to 3 cm long, pale-green, b3.se cordate, not peltate.. ..1. P. pellucida 



Leaves up to 15 cm long, green, longitudinally striped with gray, base 



rounded, peltate; cultivated only. 2. P. argyreia 



* For a consideration of the Philippine species see De Candolle, C, "A 

 Revision of Philippine Piperaceae." Philip. Journ. Sci. 5 (1910) Bot. 

 405-463. 



