VIII 
PEPPERS 
243 
Barber’s description of the fertilisation, as observed 
in India, is as follows : — 
Each new leaf is followed by a spike in the pepper at the 
flowering time, the spike arising at the same joint as the leaf, 
but on the opposite side. In the course of a few weeks the 
spike is seen to be elongated, and to be covered with the little, 
white, starlike stigmas. These are very delicate, and in the 
continued showers become covered with the wandering pollen 
from more advanced spikes. A further lengthening will then 
show the stigmas faded and the small pollen-sacs peeping out 
on each side of the ovaries, ready to burst and scatter their 
pollen to other later flowers. 
According to this view of the fertilisation of the 
pepper flowers, a long hot spell after the monsoon’s 
commencement would cause the stigmas to dry up before 
fertilisation could be effected, and many spikes would 
drop off, for any unfertilised flower is quickly thrown 
off by plants. The life of the male element is short. 
On the other hand, a succession of short spells of rain 
and sunshine would be beneficial, since sunshine is 
necessary for the growth of the leaves and especially 
for the maturing of the fruits. 
It is probable too, that very heavy rainfalls, 
especially on plants not sufficiently densely grown, 
would be injurious by washing away the pollen. 
VARIETIES OF PEPPER 
Xhe pepper cultivated in the Malay Peninsula is, so 
far as I have seen, of one variety only. It is the variety 
from which the above description of the pepper plant is 
taken. It possesses deep green leaves with strongly 
marked veins and straight edges. The leaves are not 
as large as in the big forms of Southern India, and the 
spikes are not very large, but the plants are always 
hermaphrodite with plenty of stamens, so that they are 
heavy fruiters, and in good strong plants the spikes 
contain a fruit for every flower. The peppercorns 
when dried are not as big as in some other varieties. 
