Piper.] 
PlPERACEiE. 
295 
4-valved. Ovary stalked or sessile ; stigma sessile, peltate or of 3-4 
divergent lanceolate lobes. Fruit fleshy, globose or ovoid. — Shrubs, 
often epiphytic and rooting at the lower nodes, the leaves in all the 
Mauritian species alternate. Distrib. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 
Species 600. 
Flowers hermaphrodite. Spikes 2-6 in an umbel . . . 1. P. subpeltatum. 
Flowers dioicous. Spikes solitary. 
Fruits stalked 2. P. borbonense. 
Fruits sessile. 
Leaves membranous. 
Leaves not cordate 3. P. sylvestre. 
* P. Betle. 
* P. NIGRUM. 
Leaves cordate 
Leaves coriaceous 
1. P. subpeltatum, Willd. ; Cas. PC. Prod. xvi. 333. A little- 
branched shrub, 3-4 feet high, with stout zigzag woody stems. Leaves 
alternate, broader than long, f-1 foot broad, acute, deeply cordate at 
the base, membranous, bright green above, obscurely pilose beneath, 
with 11-13 ribs radiating from the apex of the petiole, and a pair of 
strong ones springing from the midrib a space above ; petiole 6-9 in . 
long, dilated and sheathing at the base. Spikes 2 to 6, short-peduncled, 
2-5 in. long, in solitary or geminate peduncled umbels from the axils 
of the leaves. Flowers minute, hermaphrodite, 12-15 in a row round 
the spike ; bract stalked, nearly round, distinctly ciliated. Stamens 
2-3. Fruit turbinate, pilose, not larger than a pin’s head. Potho- 
morphe subpeltata, Miguel Illust. 29, t. 26 ; Wight , Ic. t. 1925. Piper 
latifolium, Bojer , Sort. Maur. 355, non Forst. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, in shaded woods. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 
2. P. borbonense, Cas. PC. Prod. xvi. 339. Stems short, dichoto- 
mously branched. Leaves alternate, oblong, acute, moderately firm in 
texture, glabrous on both surfaces, 2-3 in. long, unequal at base, rounded 
or obscurely cordate, with 4-6 slender secondary ribs branching from the 
midrib on each side, and anastomosing in arches; petioleA-i in* long, 
slightly pilose. Spikes dioicous, 2-3 in. long, on short leaf-opposed 
peduncles. Flowers in crowded spiral rows ; bract stalked, round, 
minutely ciliated. Stamens 3 ; filaments longer than the oblong 
anthers. Fruits oblong, on stalks twice as long as themselves ; 
stigmas 3. Cubeba borbonensis and costulata, Mig. Syst. Pip . 299 
and 301. Piper cubeba, Bojer Sort. Maur. 355, 
Mauritius, parasitic on trees in woods on Montagne Ory, etc. Also Bourbon. 
Our Mauritian examples called P. pyrifolium belong here. Vahl’s plant of that 
name belongs to the section with sessile fruit. Cubebe du pays. 
3. P. sylvestre, Lam. ; Cas. PC. Prod. xvi. 361. A glabrous scan- 
dent shrub, with slender stems. Leaves short-petioled, ovate, acumi- 
nate, unequally rounded on the two sides, not cordate at the base, 3-5 
in. long, membranous, glabrous on both surfaces, 5-nerved from the base. 
Spikes dioicous, 4-5 in. long, on an ascending peduncle about as long 
as the petiole (y-1 inch) ; rachis glabrous ; bract attached by the 
