164 PIPEEACEJ!. 



at both ends, or minutely rounded at the base : primary veins immersed above, prominuloua 

 beneath, tertiary ones slightly prominulous on both sides : ocbreEe split; sp,kes simple, virgaie: 

 flowers glomerate: bracts enclosing the base of the sessile, 5-partite calyx; berry "ovoid; 

 exceeded by the conical top of the achenium." — Jacj, Amer. Pici. t. 115. Desc. Fl. 3. 

 t. 353.— C. excoriata, Jacq.—k. branched .tree, 20-30' htgh ; leaves 7"-4" long, 24"-2" 

 broad : petiole 6"'-4"' long ; spikes 3"-4" long, usually nodding at the top : flowers 

 yellowish ; stamens exserted ; berry " 2i"' long, white, with the protruding achenium-top 

 black." — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.) ; Antigua!, WiMsehl.; [Portorico!, French islands!]. 

 Antigonon leptopas, Hook. Arn., is a cultivated plant in Jamaica. 



LVIII. PIPEEACE^. 



Flowers naked, amentaceous. Char^ simple ; ovule single, basilar, atropous. Enibryo 

 minute, enclosed within the persistent embryo-sac, lying at the topof amylaceous perisperm. 

 ^—Leaves quite entire. 



Aromatic, pungent properties are universal in this Order : of the famous Bast-Indian 

 Piperaoeae, Piper nigrum (the common Pepper : Desc. ¥1. 6. t. 424), Oubeba officinalis, Miq. 

 (Desc. Fl, 6. t. 429), and Ohavica Betle, Miq. (the Betel-pepper), are cultivated in the West 

 Indies. Several species afford Colonial medicines, e. g. Artanthe Bredemeyeri, Ottonia 

 Vahlii. 



1. PEPEROMIA, PL. P. 



Bracts peltate. Stamens 2, lateral to the ovary. Ovary sessile : stigma peuicillate or 

 minute. Pericarp thin. — Herbs; leaves usually succulent, exstipulaie. 



§ 1. Leaves alternate, palmatinerved. 



* Stigma Sessile on the top of the ovary. 



+ Delicate, creeping, radicant herbs ; fruit subsessile, devoid of a beak. 



1. P. uummularifolia, Kth. Fuberulous or glabrate ; stem elongated, Aliform, radi- 

 cant; leaves alternate, orhicular,convex-concave,jlesfijy,a^^i&,obi(A&iAY^-TieT^e&.: anthers 



y-f subsessile; stigma minute; fruit ovoid, subsessile. — Miq. PI. Fockean. t. 2. — Piper, Sw. 

 Acrocarpidium, Miq. ! — Stem creeping to indefinite length : amentiferons branches usually 

 1"-1 4" long ; hairs scattered, curved; leaves 4"'-3"' diam. ; anients 6"'-8"' long. — Hab. 

 Jamaica!, Bancr., March, Wils., to Trinidad!: Sieb. Tr. 16, in moist places and on trees; 

 [Cuba!, and Mexico to Brazil I]. 



2. P. exilis, Gr. Stem hair-like, glabrous, radicant; leaves ^itxw&ie, orbicular, flat, 

 membranaceous, glabrous, cUiate with long, distant hairs, obsoletelj 3-nerved ; filaments 

 distinct j stigma minute ; iruit ovoid,- subsessile. — Acrocarpidium, Miq. Stem diffuse, 

 flexuose, several inches long : amentiferons branches as long as the ament ; leaves 2'" diam., 

 pellucid, devoid of black dots j aments 6"'-4"' long. — Hab. Jamaica I, Wils. ; Trinidad I, 

 Or.; [Portorico!]. 



3. P. rotundifolia, Kth. Stem puberulous or glabrate, elongated, filiform, radicant ; 

 leaves alternate, oval, or the inferior oval-roundish, flat, glabrescent, dotted beneath with 

 reddish points, obsoletely 3-nerved ; anthers subsessile ; stigma minute ; ovary ovoid. — 

 Piper, L., Sw. Obsero. Peperomia Vincentiana, JKi'y. .' (mo» Acroc. rotundifolium, .^■.). — 

 Nearly allied to P. nummularifolia, but the amentiferons branches longer, and most leaves 

 4"'-5 " longj 3"'-3"' broad, their marginal bristles rather more distant, at length disappear- 

 ing. — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.), among mosses, on trees and stones ; Antigua I, Wullschl. ; 

 Dominica !, imc. ; S.Vincent!, Guild.; [Venezuela!]. 



4. P. cordifolia, Bietr. Stem glabrous, filiform, radicant ; leaves alternate, obcordate, 

 fiat-convex, glabrescent, eciliate, obsoletely 3-nerved ; anthers subsessile ; stigma minute j 

 fruit ovoid, subsessile. — Piper, Sw. Acrocarpidium, Miq. I — Stem creeping to indefinite 

 length; leaves 7"'-4"' long, 5"'-4"' broad, retuse at, the top, broadly ouneate or rounded at 

 the base; aments shortly peduncled, 8"'-10"' long. — Hab. Jamaica!, Macf., March, Wils., 

 Wullschl., in moist woods, and on trees or stones ; Dominica !, Imr. 



5. P. serpens, £o»f^. "Glabrous; stem filiform, radicant ; ?«aw«« alternate, rwij/brm- 



