MO 
PIPER NIGRUM. 
Black Pepper.* 
Class DiANDRiA. — Order Trigynia. 
Nat. Ord. Piperit^j, Linn. Urtic^, Juss. 
(jEN. Char. Calyx none. Corolla none. JSerry one-seeded. 
Spec. Char. Leave* ovate, seven-nerved, smooth. Petioles 
simple. 
This species of pepper t is a native of the East Indies, growing 
spontHneously in many parts of that vast territory ; but as an article 
of commerce it is extensively cultivated in the islands of Java and 
Sumatra, from whence the whole of Europe is supplied. At 
Sumatra, the ground chosen for a pepper garden is marked Out into 
regular squares of six feet, the distance at which the chinkareenS, or 
props, are placed, which are cuttings of the Morinda Citrifolia, or 
of an Erythrina. Two pepper vines I are usually planted to each 
chinkareen, round which the vines twist for support. The plants 
are three years old before they begin to bear, by which time they 
arrive to the height of eight or twelve feet, and continue to bear for 
eight years. The plants yield two crops yearly, the first in Decem- 
ber, the second in July.§ The fruit, which is produced in long 
spikes, is four or five months in coming to maturity ; the berries are 
at first green, turning to a bright red as they become ripe, and soon 
fall otF, if not gathered. As the whole cluster does not ripen at the 
same time, part of the business of the grower is to pluck the bunches 
as soon as any of the berries ripen, and spread them upon mats to 
dry, when they become black, and more or less shrivelled, according 
* Fig. «. the corolla spread open. b. A section of a ripe berry, c. The germen. 
+ PE7r£(>(, Dioscoridis. 
+ The vines are propogated by cuttings or suckers. 
I One thousand plants yield from 500 to 1000 lbs. of pepper. 
