Flora indica, or, Descriptions of Indian plants : reprinted literatim from Carey's edition of 1832 / by the late William Roxborough.
- William Roxburgh
- Date:
- 1874
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Flora indica, or, Descriptions of Indian plants : reprinted literatim from Carey's edition of 1832 / by the late William Roxborough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
65/844
![a ginple, erect oruhnn. Berry one-seeded. Embryo inverse, ami furnished with an ample poria- perm. ]. P. nigrum. Linn. Mp.pL ed. WUld. 1. 159. Leaves hilarious, obliquely ovate-cordate, acuminate, polished, from five to seven-uervcd. Pep per- vine. Marsden’s History of Sumatra, p. 105. Molago-codi. Rbeed. Mai. 7- 28. 1. 12. Sa»s. Veliqjang, Al«reccb«ng, Muricbang, Kolukang, Kmhuumoosh«n«ug, Ulumuu- p«ttM!ll/ng. llind. and Beng. Muriel), or Gol-murich. Turn. Moloovoo-kodi. jVers. Pilpil. Arab. Filfil. Malay. Ladda. Cultivated in various parts of India, and its Islands. 2. P. Irioicum. R. Trwscons, shrubby, rooting. Leaves bifarious, obliquely-ovate, acuminate, from five to seven-nerved, glaucous. Aments leaf-opposed, cylindric, pendulous. Teliny. Mnrinl-tiga. Roots long, striking deep into tin* earth. Stem jointed, winding, when old woody, and scabrous, running along' the ground to a great extent, or up trees, &c. when tniiiusl to them ; from each joint issue roots which take firm hold ol'whatever they meet with. Branches nu- merous, alternate ; the young ones smooth, the old ones woody, and scabrous like the stem. Leaves alternate, petioled, eon late, broad-oval, ovate, or oblong, pointed, from five to seven- served, (generally five,) above, smooth and glossy, below, lighter coloured, often somewhat bubbled, from four to six inches long, and from two to four broad. Petioles channelled, smooth, an inch or an inch and a half long. Slips Us solitary, spa thi form, fulling off when tlie leaf begins to be unfolded. Male l't.ANT. Calyx an ament, leaf-opposed, pcduncled, filiform, pendulous, ch*ely im- bricated with five spiral rows, of fleshy, oval, one-flowered scales. Seales oblong, imitate, ses- sile, one-flowered. Coral noue. Filaments three, very thick, and very short, scarcely elevat- ing the anthers above the margins of the scales of tlie ament. Anthers four-lobe 1. Pistil, iu gome, a minute eylindrie gland in the centre, in others, not the smallest rudiment of one. Female Plant. Calyx an ament, leaf-opponsl, shorter, thicker, and more rigid than in the mule, imbricated with three spiral rows of scales. Scales as in the male. Carol none. Stamens none, derm sessile, globose, immersed in the substance of the anient. Style, none. Stigma throe-lobod, white, glandular. Pericarp, a small, round, red, somewhat fleshy berry. Seed one, globose. Obs. When l described the three vines included in this one tqKvies, 1 had not seen Li/ier uigrum, and took it for granted that this was it ; hut as soon as 1 had an opportunity of seeing that famous plant, I was immediately convinced that they were distinct species. In irioiettm, the leaves have a glaucous apjieanince, which readily distinguishes it from 1’. nigrum, which has shining dark green leaves. This vine 1 have found w ild amongst the chain of mountains directly north from Corin- gs, iu the ltuja-muudvi Cirear. It delights iu a moist, rich soil, well shaded with trees ; to them it adheres most firmly, by means of the roots which issue from the joints. Flowering tilin', in their wild state, during the latter part of the wet season, September and October. The pepper ripens iu March. With me, in a cultivated state, they flower almost all the year : round, but chiefly during the fore-mentioned period. 1 have not nu t with any author, or any sort of information, that could lead nie to think i black pepper was the produce of a dieeoons plant, (male and female on distinct vines,) till upon examination, 1 found it was so. Attention to this circumstance ill. I think, render the culture of popper much more certain, and successful, viz. by plauting to each prop trie a male and female plant, the male on the sides from whence the most prevailing wind blows ; and ’ the female on the other. The vegetable world is full of proofs that the sexual system of the immortal Linmcus is j founded on the soundest principles ; and not a single plant have 1 ever found in India, that does not corroborate this fact. The Arabians from time immemorial knew, that to render • xLvfemale date-tree prolific, it was necessary to bring it iu contact with the male; which they do by making a slit in tile spatlie of the female flower, just before it is ready to burst and thrusting therein n brunch of the nude spadix. I have therefore the utmost reason to conclude the popper vine will lie much more productive, if the above-mentioned circum- stance be attended to, by the cultivators. 1 think, if the Malays in Sumatra bad known it, the accurate Mr. Mursdcn would not have neglected mentioning so matcriul a circumstance, when describing this plant, mill the method of cultivating it there. Soon after the above description was made, I found a third vine bearing aments with her- tnaphrodile flowers; or hermaphrodite mid female flowers mixed on the same aments. At the same time I found that the |s |iper of the feumle vine did not ripen properlv, but dropped while green, and immature from the plant, and that when dried it bad not so much pungency ns common )>cpper, whereas the pepper of lids third sort ripens perfectly, when dry i> exceed- inylv pungent; and bus been, by pepper merchants at Madras, reckoned equal, if not superior j to the best js.'pjKT of the Malubar coast, or Ceylon; consequently this must be the sort that is found cultivated; tip: other two being, 1 coujectuiv, entirely neglected. lhis hermaphrodite plant grow s wild, with the male a ml female, in the moist, uncultivat- Pago Carey Ed 1. 151 I. 152 I. 153](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28120024_0065.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
