Vernac. names.—Masoro (Hausa, Dalziel); Komasimi (Sierra Leone, Scott Elliot); Yaray (Sierra Leone, Col. & Ind. Exhib. 1886); [Sassama (Cape Coast) Assawansah (Axim) African Plantations Ltd.]; Iyere (Lagos, Dawodu); Senna (Winnebah, Christy); Dojvie, Saosa (Gold Coast, Crowther); Ebien (Benin, Unwin); Jihefo or Jihefu (Golungo Alto, Welwitsch); Pimenta (Island of St. Thomas, Welwitsch).—Black Pepper of West Africa; Ashantee Pepper; African Cubebs (Wharton, Mus. Kew); Benin Pepper.
Lagos, Benin, Bornu, in Nigeria, and also found on the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, French Guinea in West Africa, and in Uganda, Angola, &c.
The fruits of this species was known as early as 1364 from the Grain Coast (Liberia) and 1485 from Benin, exported from the latter place by the Portuguese in a vain attempt to sell it in Flanders, and one cask of it was offered for sale in London as “Cubebs,” Feb. 11th, 1858 (Flückiger & Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 589); but it does not appear to be a suitable substitute for true “Black Pepper.”
Locally the fruits or small dried berries sold for spice and medicinal use, Nigeria (Dalziel, Hausa, Bot. Voc. p. 76); used by the country people to eat with rice and as a purge (drink) in Sierra Leone (Scott Elliot, Herb. Kew) in thickening soup, Lagos (Dawodu, Herb. Kew), as a native medicine for sores, Aquapim, Gold Coast (Murray Ramsay, Herb. Kew) and for “intense pains of the stomach,” Gold Coast (specimen from African Plantations Ltd. in Herb. Kew). “Ashanti Pepper oil” is described as “colourless to palish-yellow, peppery and at the same time sweetish odour” (Schimmel, Semi-Ann. Rep. April 1914, p. 101).
A climbing shrub reaching a height of from 30–40 ft., with bright-red fruits. Yields the “bush pepper” of the Sierra Leone Markets (Barter, Herb. Kew); sold locally in the markets, Benin (Unwin, MSS. Report, 1907); brought by native merchants from the interior for sale in the Gold Coast markets (Pharm. Journ. [1] xiv. 1854, p. 199; Moloney, For. W. Africa, p. 410).
The list of illustrations (p. 554) and the reading list (p. 555) are not transcribed.