PIPERALE8. 



483 



are called, a watery, slightly acid fluid is secreted ; upon their borders 

 are secreted honey or nectar drops, which attract insects, and these fail 

 ing into the fluid within are soon dissolved by it, and then absorbed by 

 the plant for its nour- 

 ishment. 



573.— Cohort V. 

 Piperales. Mostly 

 herbs, with spiked 

 flowers and superior 

 one-celled and one- 

 seeded ovary. 



Order Ceratophyl- 

 lese. — Aquatic herbs of 

 the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. 



Order CUorantba- 

 cese. — Shrubby plants, 

 mostly of the tropics. 



Order Piperacese. — 



The Pepper Family. 

 Herbs, shrubs, or small 

 trees, almost confined to 

 the tropics ; generally 

 with a pungent and 

 aromatic principle. 

 Over 1000 species are 

 known. 



We have one species 

 of Saururus in the East- 

 ern, and one of Anemi- 

 opds in the Soutliwest- 

 ern United States 



Two tropical genera, 

 Piper and Peperomia, 

 Include nearly all the 



species, the first con- ^,,g ggs.-Two leaves of Nemidhes ampM„na. , 



taining 630 and the sec- short petiole ; b, blade or expanded part of leaf ; c, ten- 



, „Qn dril-like prolongation of midrib; d, e, pitcher,/, Its 



ona oo*. lid, in the other leaf, which is younger, the lid lias not 



Piper nigrum is a yt separated from the apex of the pitcher.— After Du- 



climbing East Indian 



plant, with heart-shaped leaves ; it boars spik' s of berries, which, 

 when gathered green and dried, constitute tlie Black Pepper of com- 

 merce. The ripe berries, when dried, constitute White Pepper. Pep- 

 per is now grown in the West Indies, 



