macropiper

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of dicotyledonous apetalous plants belonging to the natural order Piperaceæ and the tribe Pipereæ, characterized by an ovary with one cell and one ovule, flowers imperfect, usually in dense axillary spikes, and the fruit sessile, the berries often having the fleshy bracts and rachis united with them to form a multiple fruit. There are about 6 species natives of the islands in the Pacific. They are shrubs, with erect stems, and alternate leaves on petioles dilated at the base. M. methysticum is the Polynesian ava, cava, or kava, from whose root a stimulating beverage is made. (See kava.) M. excelsum is the native pepper of New Zealand, the kawa-kawa, a small aromatic tree, furnishing a tea and a remedy for toothache, and bearing yellow berries edible except the seeds.