Reference: =item (Perl in a Nutshell)

=item

=item 

text

Starts a list. Lists should always be inside an over/back block. Many translators use the value of text on the first =item to determine the type of list:

=item *

Bulleted list. An asterisk (* ) is commonly used for the bullet, but can be replaced with any other single character. Followed by a blank line and then the text of the bulleted item:

=item *

This is the text of the bullet.

=item n

Numbered list. Replace n with 1 on the first item, 2 on the second, and so on - pod does not automatically generate the numbers.

=item text

Definition list. Formats text as the term and the following paragraph as the body of the list item. For example:

=item <HTML>

Indicates the beginning of an HTML file

The exact appearance of the output depends on what translator you use, but it will look pretty much like this:

<HTML>
    Indicates the beginning of an HTML file