The product of a creeping shrub, growing in several parts of the East Indies, Asia, and America.
In what manner does Pepper grow, and what part of the shrub is used?
Pepper is the fruit of this shrub, and grows in bunches or clusters, at first green; as it ripens it becomes reddish, until having been exposed for some time to the heat of the sun, (or probably gathered before perfectly ripe,) it becomes black, as in the condition we have it. There are two sorts, the black and the white.
What is the White Pepper?
The white pepper is merely the black deprived of its outside skin. For this purpose the finest red berries are selected, and put in baskets to steep, either in running water, or in pits dug for the purpose, near the banks of rivers. Sometimes they are only buried in the ground. In any of these situations, they swell and burst their skins, from which, when dry, they are carefully separated by rubbing between the hands, or fanning.
What is Cayenne Pepper?
The dried fruit of a plant called bird pepper, a native of both Indies. It is more pungent than the other sorts.