320 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
also to chew with gambir, and is especially used as a 
substitute for betel leaves when travelling in places 
where the fresh leaves are not procurable. It sells at a 
price of from 6 to 15 or 18 cents per catty. 
Pijpei' arnottianum, C. DC., Kadok 
This pepper was described by me in the Bulletin of 
the Straits Settlements, old series, p. 123, under the 
name of Piper longum, which it somewhat resembles. 
It is a low-growing, non-climbing plant, emitting long 
runners, which creep along the ground ; the flowering 
stems are erect and about 6 in. tall. The leaves are 
ovate cordate, polished dark green, 7-nerved, acute, 
about 4 or 5 in. long, and 3| to 4 in. wide. The spikes 
are cylindrical and at first white, brownish grey when 
ripe, not broader at the base than at the tip, and only 
-J- in. through. It is less pungent than long pepper, and 
has a peculiar and rather unpleasant bug-like flavour. 
It is seldom if ever cultivated, as it grows on shady 
banks everywhere in the Malay peninsula, and is very 
readily propagated by cuttings. Its spikes are used 
more as a medicine by the natives than as a spice. 
Grains of Paradise, or Melegueta 
Grains of Paradise, or Melegueta, are the aromatic 
pungent seeds of one or more species of the genus 
Am-omum, of the order Scitamineae. Both of these 
plants are natives of West Africa, where they are more 
or less cultivated, and also found in a wild state. The 
seeds of both species appear to be used and sold 
commercially, under the name Grains of Paradise. 
Amomum Melegueta, Poscoe, is a herbaceous plant 
with a stout rhizome, sending up leafy stems from 3 
to 5 ft. tall. The leaves are linear, or linear oblong 
acuminate. The flowers are borne on a short stem 
about 2 in. long, hardly rising I in. above the 
ground, and terminated by a spike of reddish bracts. 
