Diandria ■» 
33 
Order II. Digynia. 
A&thoxakthum. Gen. char. — Cal. a glume with two 
valves including one flower ; cor. a two-valved glume, 
awned. 
An. Odoratum, Sweet scented vernal grass ; spike 
ovat-oblong, the florets on little footstalks longer than 
the awn. This grass is very common in meadows and 
pastures, flowers 'in May, and communicates a fine fra- 
grance to hay ; and is a remarkable exception to the 
tribe of grasses which have three stamens, and are there- 
fore arranged under the third class. 
Order III. Trigynia. 
Piper, Gen. char.— Cal. none ; cor. none j berry 
roundish, containing one seed. 
Pip. Nigrum , Black Pepper ; leaves ovate, seven- 
nerved, smooth, foot-stalks simple. This plant, which 
is shrubby and creeping, is a native of the East Indies, 
and is extensively cultivated in Java and other places, 
on account of the berries which afford the black pep- 
per of commerce, and are well known by their hot and 
aromatic taste as a spice or condiment. The berries 
are collected before they are ripe, and being dried in 
the sun, become wrinkled and black, and are known 
under the name of black pepper ; but when the fruit 
is fully ripe, and the external coat is separated by ma- 
ceration in water, the berry exhibits a smooth surface, 
is less hot to the taste, and is the white pepper of com- 
merce. 
