102 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



and Liverpool in 1850^ and about one-fifth of that quantity 

 were re-exported. 



Black Pepper. — The dried ripe berries of Piper nigrum, 

 (Nat. Ord. Pijoeracea.) (Plate II. fig. 9.) 



This spice was known to the ancients ; it was used by the 

 Greeks and Eomans^ both medicinally and as a condiment ; 

 they received it from India,, its native country. 



The Black Pepper plant has a climbing habit ; the jointed 

 stems occasionally grow as much as twelve feet in length ; 

 the leaves are thick^ fleshy^ and ellipticab broad at the base 

 and pointed at the apex; the flowers form compact spikes 

 all round the terminations of the short bunches ; they are 

 small and inconspicuous, and are succeeded by a compact 

 cluster of round berries, which are at first green, but ripen 

 to a bright-red colour. They are gathered as soon as they 

 begin to redden, for if allowed to ripen fully, they lose 

 their pungency and fall off ; in drying they become wrinkled 

 and black. The pepper plant is strictly tropical in its cha- 

 racter, but grows freely wherever the climate is suitable ; 

 hence its culture has been greatly extended, and it is now 

 found as a regular crop in the East and West Indies, in 

 Borneo, Sumatra, the Molucca Islands, the Malay Peninsula, 

 Siam, Malabar, and other places. 



