Peperomia.] 
PIPERACEJE. 
297 
Large, with 1-2 inch leaves. 
Veinlets fine, obscure 2. P. portulacoides. 
Veinlets strong, distinct 3. P. reticulata. 
Leaves penninerved. 
Leaves glabrous 4. P. elliptica. 
Leaves pilose 5. P. penninervia. 
Leaves 3-4-nate, rigidly coriaceous 6. P. reflexa. 
1. P. serpyllifolia, Dietr ; Cas. DC. Prod, xvi.445. Stems filiform. 
Leaves opposite or the lowest alternate, roundish or obovate, obtuse, 
membranous, glabrous on both surfaces, | in. long, obscurely tripli- 
nerved, ciliolate with brownish hairs towards the apex ; petiole in. 
long. Spikes terminal, scarcely overtopping the leaves. Fruit ovoid, 
immersed at the base. 
Mauritius, Neraud. Endemic. 
2. P. portulacoides, Dietr. ; Cas. DC. Prod.jv i. 443. Stems terete, 
succulent, trailing at the base, in. thick, rooting from the lower nodes, 
-§-1 foot long, copiously branched and ascending in the upper part, 
glabrous. Leaves opposite, rarely ternate, membranous, glabrous, 
1- 2 in. long, obovate, obtuse, cuneate in the lower half, distinctly 
triplinerved from the base three-quarters of the way up, with obscure 
veinlets between the main ribs ; petiole i— | in. long. Spikes 2-3 in. 
long, on J-l in. peduncles, solitary, opposite the upper leaves ano 
2- 3 terminal ; bract round, glabrous, short-stalked. Ovary globose, 
immersed at the base, not narrowed to a point ; stigma terminal, 
penicillate. Wight , Ic. t. 1922. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, frequent in shaded woods. Also Bourbon, Madagas- 
car, and East Indies. Poivrier a feuilles de pourpier. Tourpier marron. 
Far. P. Perottetiana, Miq. ; Cas. DC. Prod. xvi. 443. Leaves 
broader in proportion to their length, nearly as broad as long, glabrous, 
as are the stems. Spikes 3-4 in. long. 
Mauritius, in thick woods, Sieber , 165 ! Bojer ! Bouton ! Also Bourbon, 
Boivin ! 
Far. pilosa, Baker. Stems and leaves clothed with fine pubescence. 
Seychelles, Wright ! Horne , 567 ! Also East Indies. 
3. P. reticulata, Balf. fit. Stems J-l foot long, i in. thick at 
the base, simple or once branched, trailing and rooting from the nodes 
in the lower half, then ascending. Leaves opposite, rarely ternate at the 
end node, oblong or obovate-oblong, glabrous, membranous-succulent, 
obtuse, 1-2 in. long, deltoid at the base, distinctly triplinerved from the 
base three-quarters of the way up, with distinct anastomosing inter- 
mediate veinlets ; petiole i-J in. long. Spike terminal, 2-4. in long, 
generally solitary on a peduncle under an inch long ; bract round, 
sessile, glabrous like the rachis. Fruit globose, slightly immersed at the 
base, with a peltate terminal stigma. 
Rodriquez ; Balfour ! Endemic. 
