1266 
CVII. PIPERACEjE. 
[Peperomia* 
1. P. leptostachya (slender-spiked), Hook, and Am. Bot. Beech. 96 ; 
Benth. FI. Austr. vi. 206. Stems shortly decumbent and rooting at the base, 
ascending or erect from a few inches to about 1ft. long, more or less pubescent 
with scattered hairs as well as the foliage. Leaves opposite or rarely appearing 
whorled from the close approximation of two whorls under the branches, ovate- 
elliptical or obovate, obtuse or obtusely acuminate, under 4in. long in rocky 
exposed situations, above lin. in shady places, cuneate or rounded at the base, 
thinly membranous when dry, 5 -nerved but the lateral nerves near the margin 
and sometimes very faint. Spikes very slender, terminal or in the upper axils 
2 to 3in. long or even more. Bracts very small, peltate, almost sessile. Berries 
usually pubescent. — Cas. DC. Prod. xvi. i. 448; Miq. Pip. Nov. Holl. 6; 
P. Baueriana var. brisbaniana, Cas. DC. l.c. 414. 
Hab.: Brisbane River. Moreton Bay, F. v. Mueller ; Rockhampton, common in the scrubs, 
O’Shanesy, Bowman, DaJlachy ; Rockingham Bay, Dallachy ; very common on rocks every- 
where. 
The species is also in the Pacific Islands, and is very closely allied to an East Indian one. 
2. P. reflexa (reflexed). A. Dietr .; Cas. in DC. Prod. xvi. i. 451 ; Benth. 
FI. Austr. vi. 206. A small erect or diffuse herb, said to be annual, 2-3- 
chotomously branched, more or less succulent and quite glabrous or slightly 
pubescent. Leaves in whorls of 4, very shortly petiolate or almost sessile, ovate 
rhomboid al or almost orbicular, very obtuse, ^ to |in. long, fleshy when fresh,, 
coriaceous when dry, the veins very obscure. Spikes terminal, dense, shortly 
pedunculate, £ to liin. long. Bracts almost sessile, peltate. Ovary half- 
immersed, with a capitate stigma. Berries exserted. — Miq. Pip. Nov. Holl. 7 
Wight Ic. t. 1923. 
Hab.: Common on the rocks of southern ranges. Common in most tropical countries. 
3. P. enervis (veinless), C. DC. et. F. v. M. Viet. Nat. Nov. 1891. 
Rather dwarf, sometimes attaining the height of 1ft., erect or diffuse, flaccid,, 
glabrous ; the upper branches angular. Leaves 6 to 9 lines long, cuneate- 
obovate, the lateral veins almost obliterated. Flower spikes solitary, or 
occasionally 2 together, from 1 to liin. long, very slender, mostly terminal, 
pedunculate ; flowers close, bracts very minute, orbicular, ovary almost entirely 
immersed, stigma oblique. Fruit minute, almost globular, when dry slightly 
rough. 
Hab.: Bartle Frere, Stephen Johnson and A. Meston. 
Order CVIII. MYRISTICE^l. 
(From myristikos, smelling of myrrh.) 
Flowers dioecious, regular. Perianth deciduous, 3-lobed or rarely 2- or 4- 
lobed, the lobes valvate in the bud. Male fl. Stamens united in a central 
column ; anthers 3, 6 or more adnate to the column at the apex, or in a ring 
immediately below the column, each with 2 parallel cells opening longi- 
tudinally. Female fl. Ovary free within the perianth, with a single erect 
anatropous ovule ; stigma sessile or nearly so, capitate or depressed. Fruit 
succulent, opening tardily in 2 valves. Seed erect, sessile, more or less covered 
with a lobed or jagged often scarlet arillus (or arillodium) proceeding from the 
base of the seed. Albumen remarkably ruminate. Embryo very small, at th& 
base of the seed, with divaricate cotyledons. — Trees often aromatic. Leaves 
alternate, entire, usually dotted, penniveined, without stipules. Flowers small, 
in axillary or supra-axillary racemes or panicles, more numerous in the males 
then in the females. Bracts minute or none. 
The Order is limited to the single genus Myristica. 
