PIPER. 
49 £) 
pubefcence, and flowers. The tafte alfo is bitter, not 
aromatic. Native of Jamaica, in moift woods on the Blue 
Mountains. It is an annual plant, and flowers early in 
the fpring. 
26. Piper tenellum s herbaceous; Ample, decumbent; 
leaves diftich-ovate, veinlefs, ciliate at the edge; fpike 
afcending. Root fmall, annual, Ample, filamentofe. 
Stem three or four inches high, very feldom divided, 
jointed, fomewhat hirfute, having very minute red dors 
cn it, and a fcattered (hagginels among the petioles, 
grooved, brittle. Leaves fmall, on very fhort petioles. 
Flowers very minute : calyx none ; but a roundifh little 
fcale covering the germ ; by the Aides of which are two 
filaments, the length of the germ, upright. Berry on 
a pedicel three times as long as the germ, containing one 
feed; when ripe it was the lize of a fmall pin’s head, of a 
blackifli colour, and an aromatic flavour. Native of 
Jamaica, on the cool mountains, on trunks of trees, 
efpecially fuch as are rotten, hanging down among the 
mofs, and flowering in Summer. 
27. Piper acuminatum : herbaceous; leaves lanceolate- 
ovate, nerved, fleflty; ftem almoft upright. Native of 
South America, in moift woods, commonly on the trunks of 
rotten trees. 
28. Piper blandum : leaves in threes, lanceolate- 
acuminate, three-nerved, ciliate, dotted underneath, 
Siems feveral, a foot and a half high, almoft upright, 
weak, flefliy, villofe, thicker than a quill,- round, blood-red, 
at top flexuofe and branched : branches alternate, 
oppofite or in threes. Leaves petioled, acute, quite entire, 
dark green above, underneath very pale green with the 
edges blood-red ; on the middle of the ftalk the nerves 
are alfo blood-red ; the larger ones are four inches in 
length ; the loweft are much lefs, and entirely blood-red 
underneath. Native of the Caraccas. 
29. Piper amplexicaule: fubherbaceous, leaves lan¬ 
ceolate-ovate, embracing, nerved, fleffiy ; ftem eredt, 
Ample. Stem almoft Ample, a foot high, hardiih, flightly 
flexuofe, angular, comprefled, grooved, fmooth, rigid. 
It is eafily diftinguilhed by the leaves embracing the ftem. 
Native of Jamaica, and other iflands of the Weft Indies, 
on rotten trees, and among the remains of thofe which 
have fallen. 
30. Piper pallidum : leaves alternate obovate, commonly 
three-nerved ; fpikes folitary, fubterminating. Native of 
the Society-ifles. 
31. Piper obtuAfolium, or blunt-leaved pepper: leaves 
cbovate, nervelefs. This fends out from the root many 
fucculent herbaceous ftalks almoft as large as a man’s 
little finger; they are jointed, and divide into many 
branches, never rifing above a foot high, but generally 
fpread near the ground, putting out roots at each joint, 
propagate very faft, and foon cover a large fpace of ground. 
The leaves are very thick and fucculent; they are about 
three inches long and two broad, very fmooth and entire. 
(See the Botany Plate IV. fig. 57.) The peduncle 
comes out at the end of the branches; this is alfo very 
fucculent; and the whole length, including the fpike, is 
about feven inches. The fpike is ftraigbt, eredf, and 
about the fize of a goofe-quill clofely covered with fmall 
flowers which require a glafs to be diftinguilhed : the 
whole fpike much refembles the tail of a lizard, for which 
Plunder gave it the name of Saurunis. It is a native of 
South America, and many of the iflands in the Weft 
Indies: was cultivated by Mr. Miller in 1739; and 
flowers from April to September. 
32. Piper retufum: leaves obovate, retufe. Found at 
the Cape of Good Hope by Thun berg. 
33. Piper glabellum : herbaceous; leaves ovate 
acuminate; ftem declined, rooting, very much branched. 
Stems long, crowded, procumbent, leafy, roundifh, even. 
Leaves alternate, quite entire. The colour of the whole 
plant is pale green. It is nearly allied toP. acuminatum; 
but differs in having a weak ftem, very much branched, 
5 
fomewhat creeping and rooting; the leaves ovate, acu¬ 
minate, lefs, and not fo thick ; fpikes fmaller, fhorter. 
Native of Jamaica and other iflands of the Weft Indies; 
flowering in the fpring. 
34. Piper ferpens : herbaceous; leaves roundifli- 
acute, flat, difcoloured ; ftem creeping. The ftem puts 
forth capillary fibres on every fide; is filiform, fubdivided, 
angular, fmooth, leafy. Leaves alternate, greater in 
widtli than length, half an inch in breadth ; petioles 
fhorter than the leaves, fpreadrng, round, fmooth. 
Flowers fo minute as not to be diftinguilhed by the naked 
eye ; feparated by ovate fcales. It may be diftinguilhed 
from P. rotundifolium by the leaves not being orbi- 
culate or ovate ; the ftem not divaricate, but more Ample 
and thicker; the leaves underneath pale and thicker; 
broad-ovate at the bale, with a very fhort point. Native 
of Jamaica, in rocky woods among mofs. 
35. Piper cordifolium : herbaceous; leaves obcordate, 
petioled, plano-convex, flefliy; ftem creeping. Stem 
filiform, divaricate, round, fucculent. Leaves alternate, 
entire fmooth. Flowers very minute, whitifh. The 
whole plant lias a fharp tafte. It is very diHincl from the 
others in the leaves. Native of Jamaica, in old woods, 
on decaying trees. 
36. Piper nummularifolium: herbaceous, leaves 
orbicular, concavo-convex ; ftem filiform, creeping, 
rooting. Stems two or three feet long, fubdivided, 
roundifh, very fmooth, foft. Flowers hardly difcernible, 
whitifh.. It refembles P. rotundifolium, but differs in 
having a filiform divaricating ftem, and orbicular 
concavo-convex leaves. Native of the interior of 
Jamaica on old trees. 
37. Piper rotundifolium : herbaceous; leaves roundifh, 
flat, flefliy ; ftem filiform, creeping. Stems very long, 
fubdivided, round, fucculent, throwing out fhort capillary 
fibres on all Aides from the Hems. Jacquin mentions, that 
the leaves are greafy to the touch, bright green, with a 
peculiar fragrant reviving odour, entitling them to be 
ranked among the aromatics and cephalics, and which 
they retain for feveral years, when dried; he lias feen a 
diftilled water of them yielding the pleafant fcent of the 
plant. Native of Jamaica and Martinico, in clofe moift: 
woods, covering the entire mofty trunks of old trees, and 
ftones covered with mofs. 
38. Piper maculofum : leaves peltate, ovate. Native of 
Dominica. 
30- Piper peltatum : leaves peltate, orbicular-cordate, 
blunt ; fpikes umbelled. This lias a pretty thick fpongy 
ftalk, fifteen feet high, dividing into many jointed pithy 
branches. Leaves about a foot in diameter. Native of 
Jamaica and Dominica. 
40. Piper fubpeltatum : leaves fubpeltate, orbicular- 
cordate, acuminate; fpikes umbelled. . This holds a 
middle place between P. peltatum and umbellatum ; but 
differs from the firlt in its fubpeltate acuminate leaves ; 
from the fecond, in its fubpeltate leaves and fmooth ftem. 
Native of Amboyna and Baley, in woods among the 
mountains. 
41. Piper diftacliyon : leaves ovate-acuminate; fpikes 
conjugate; ftem rooting. Stem from two to three feet 
high, climbing, fubdivided, comprefled a little, fmooth, 
marked with rufous fpots or dots, fucculent. Native ot 
the mountains of Jamaica, Hifpaniola, and Dominica. 
42. Piper umbellatum, umbelled pepper, or Santa- 
Maria leaf: leaves orbicular-cordate, acuminate, veined ; 
fpikes umbelled ; ftem eredf, grooved, pubefcent. Root 
annual. Stem herbaceous. Brow’ne fays it is very 
common in the woods of Jamaica, and is feldom more 
than three or four feet high ; that the leaves are very 
large and round, the footftalks embracing the ftem at 
the infertion; that Pifo affirms the root to be a warm 
adtive remedy againft poifons, and that a fyrup is made 
of it in many parts of our fugar-colonies, which is much 
ufed by the inhabitants in colds and catarrhs. Browne 
ha* 
