Flora Medica

PIPERACE^E.specimens from Singapur and Penang under the name of P. pedicellosum,No. 6646. The ripe fruit is called Cubebs in the shops ; dried andit ispounded aromatic, pungent, stimulant and purgative, and acts as aspecific in arresting gonorrheal discharges. Blume says that the fruitsof this, although of good quality, are not sent to Europe the followingspecies furnishing the officinal Cubebs. I must however remark:that I cannot perceive any difference in the flavour of the dried fruit ofthis species and of the Cubebs sold in the London shops.645. P. caninum Humph, v, t. 28. f. 2. Blume act. bat.xi. 214. f. 26. P. Cubeba Eoxb.fi. ind. i. 161 Java andPrince of Wales's island.Stem rooting, climbing the ; young shoots slightly downy. Leaves3J-5 inches long, 1^-3 inches wide, ovate or ovate-oblong, sometimesobliquely subcordate at the base, with about 5 ribs, stalked, whenyoung rather downy ;the terminal ones occasionally lanceolate, tripleribbed,membranous, downy beneath. Peduncles about the length ofthe petioles. Spikes monoecious, from J to 2 inches long, curved, andabout the thickness of a crow's quill. Fruit red, oval, stalked ;thepedicels 2-3 lines long. Blume. It is considered by Dr. Blumeprobable that the Cubebs of commerce are chiefly furnished by thisspecies, which is quite distinct from P. Cubeba ;the fruit is smallerand shorter stalked, having a distinct Anise flavour, and is less pungentthan in that species.646. P. Afzelii. Sierra Leone. (Guinea Cubebs.)A plant with the habit of P. Cubeba ;but the racemes of fruit aretwice as long, and the stalks of the fruit are much longer also. Leavesquite smooth, coriaceous, obovate-lanceolate, acuminate, tapering tothe base, which is slightly and obliquely cordate, triple-ribbed, thelateral ribs placed close to the margin and anastomosing with about 3lateral veins set upon the midrib at an acute angle ; petiole short andquite smooth. This is the plant which has given rise to the statementthat Cubebs are obtained from Guinea asserted ; by Smith in Rees'sCyclopaedia, and repeated by Nees and Ebermaier and others. It isextremely different from either P. Cubeba or caninum, and the qualityof its fruit has still to be ascertained.*#* Most writers on Materia medica speak of a kind of Cubebs fromthe Mauritius or Bourbon, and Dr. Theodore Martius says its fruitsare not larger than grains of Millett. Fee refers the Bourbon cubebsto P. caudatum Vahl; but that is a Brazilian species.PEPEROMIA.Stamens 2. Style simple, very small. Stigma like a dot,or peltate. Fruit baccate, always sessile.647. P. umbellata Kunth synops.i. 124. Dietrich sp. pi.i. 142. Piper umbellatum Linn. sp. pi 43. HBK. n. g. et.sp. i. 59. Various parts of South America.Stem erect, 3-4 feet high, woody at the base; branches smooth.Leaves very large and rugose, roundish, acute, cordate, membranous,314