Piper aduncum, Piper angustifolium, Piper elongatum

Small tree to 7 m tall, with short silt roots and soft, brittle wood; foliage and twigs aromatic. Branches erect, but with drooping twigs and swollen, purplish nodes. Leaves alternate, distichous, elliptic, 12-22 cm long, shortly petiolate; lamina scabrid above, with sunken nerves, softly hairy beneath. Inflorescence a leaf-opposed, curved spike on a 12-17 cm peduncle, white to pale yellow, turning green with maturity. Flowers crowded in regular transverse ranks. Fruit a 1-seeded berry, blackish when ripe.

Used as a aromatic stimulant, against gonorrhea, leukorrhea, piles, hemorrhages and dyspepsia.

Propagation: seeds and cuttings.

Culture: full sun / light shade, sandy loam soil, needs high humidity.

Plant in frost free areas.

Piper auritum

Close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), this herb originated from Tropical America and grows also in the South Pacific. Large-leaved perennial, known for its leaves, which are used for their spicy aromatic scent and flavor, some liken to root beer, others to anise-clove. This species is easily identified by its huge leaves which can grow over a foot long in older specimens. Plants will grow out from roots so it can spread in ideal conditions. Flowers are long, skinny, white, and fuzzy looking. They may be borne in season. The plant doesn't usually form many fruits outside of its native range. The leaves are chopped and used for flavoring, as well as used whole, as wrappings for meats, tamales, etc.

P. auritum is very often confused with Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and probably has some similar effects. According to other sources, it can be poisonous. Explorer Captain James Cook, who gave this plant the botanical name of "intoxicating pepper", first discovered the true kava kava. Kava has been used for over 3,000 years for its medicinal effects as a sedative, muscle relaxant, diuretic, and as a remedy for nervousness and insomnia. It has been used in parts of the Pacific at traditional social gatherings as a relaxant and in cultural and religious ceremonies to achieve a higher level of consciousness. The roots can be made into a mildly narcotic beverage that is comparable to popular cocktails in our culture. Kava is now recognized by many doctors as an alternative to drugs like Xanax and Valium.

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Piper betle

The plant grows widely over the entire area between South Arabia and Southeast China. It is a branching vine, that may climb as high as 10-15ft, although it often grows as an understory ground cover. The plant prefers warm, humid conditions, but can tolerate some drought. It is generally too tender to grow outside of the tropics. It is used in a number of traditional remedies for the treatment of stomach ailments, infections, and as a general tonic. It is often chewed in combination with the betel nut (Areca catechu), as a stimulatory. Some evidence suggests that betel leaves have immune boosting properties as well as anti-cancer properties. The essential oil is produced by steam distillation from the leaves of Piper Betle. Betel Leaf Oil is yellow to brown with an distinctly phenolic, almost tar-like or smoky. Leaves have long been used in Indonesia as traditional medicine. These leaves have antimicrobial activity towards bacteria in the mouth. Essential oils of the plant contained phenolic compounds. Throughout the balmy Asian tropics, great passion is accorded the chewing of the stimulating fruit of the Areca catechu palm known as betel nut. Traditionally prepared by chopping or slicing the areca nut, adding a bit of moistened lime to a Piper betle leaf and wrapping the nuts in ribbon-like strips of leaf to make a small packet known as a buyo. When one visits a household, the host will likely offer one of these buyos as a gesture of hospitality. Workers will often carry small boxes or bags of prepared betel much like the Peruvians carry coca leaves. Piper betle grows as a vigorous vine which is usually supported by a trellis of bamboo poles. The heart-shaped leaves are marvelously pungent and spicy. Makes as interesting container plant.

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Piper blattarum

Piper longum

The species Piper longum is of South Asian origin (Deccan peninsular), whereas the closely related Piper retrofractum

comes from South East Asia and is mostly cultivated in Indonesia and Thailand. Long pepper is more pungent than black pepper.

Piper magnificum

The large, roundish leaves are deep green above, burgundy red underneath, thick and plastic-like.

Piper methysticum

Kava is both the common name and the beverage made from the root of Piper methysticum (family Piperaceae). Kava is native to Oceania, the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean, where it is used as a ritual drink.

This is a shrub about 6 feet high. The leaves are alternate, cordate, with a wavy, entire margin, and an abrupt, acute point. The petiole is about an inch long, dilated at the base, and furnished with linear, erect stipules. The veins are prominent, about 12, diverging from the base of the leaf-blade. The flowers are small, apetalous, and arranged on slender spikes. Those bearing male flowers are axillary and solitary. The female spikes are numerous. Female flowers are especially rare and do not produce fruit even when hand-pollinated. Its cultivation is entirely by propagation from stem cuttings.

Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia for its sedating effects. Kava is an anxiolytic herbal medicine used in the treatment of sleep and anxiety disorders. Some cases of kava-induced hepatotoxicity have been reported in the literature leading to its banishment in most countries worldwide.

Piper nigrum

Pepper is cultivated since millennia. The wild form has not yet been unambigously identified, but there are closely related pepper species in South India and Burma. While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Black pepper, grown in Southern India since more than two thousand years, has always been much valued all over the world. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one.

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Piper ornatum, Piper crocatum

This is not an easy plant, but one which is always of great interest to plant collectors. It is one of the most beautiful of patterns rivalled only by some of the Calathea species. This sprawling shrub has wiry stems that spread across the ground and climb into low vegetation. It can grow to about 15 ft (4.5 m) tall. The heart-shaped leaves are nearly as wide as they are long 10 cm. The upper leaf surfaces are a mottled pattern of green, pink and silver while the undersides are flushed purple-red.

Piper peltatum, Lepianthes peltata, Pothomorphe peltata

A lowlying species with heart-shaped glossy foliage, this plant has both household and medicinal uses. The leaves not only provide tablecloths and food wrapping material, but are also rubbed on the body to repel ticks and applied directly to swollen sores.The leaves are used as diuretic, antipyretic, and as an external and internal anti-inflammatory agent in several regions of the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon.