Piper mullesua

Family: Piperaceae

What it is like

A trailing herb. It is woody. The stems are swollen at the joints. The leaves have stalks. The stalks are 0.7-2 cm long and slender. The leaves are 5.3-14 cm long by 2-8 cm wide. The leaves are oval and taper to the tip. They are papery to thinly leathery. The leaves have 5 veins. These are easy to see underneath the leaf. Flowers contain both sexes. The flowers are yellowish. The spikes are opposite the leaves and near the ends of the branches. The fruit is a berry. They are small and crowded. They are about 2.5 mm across.

There are between 1000-2000 Piper species. They are mostly in the tropics. It is used in medicine.

Where it is found

A subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 200-2000 m altitude. It grows in steep, rocky, shady places. In China it grows on forested slopes and in valleys between 800-2100 m altitude in S China. In India it grows in wet places near falls. It occurs in the Western Ghats in India.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Bhutan, China, Himalayas, India, Nepal

How it is used for food

The ripe fruit are eaten fresh. The flowers are added to vegetables and meat curries for flavour. The leaves are used as a substitute for betel pepper.

Edible parts

Fruit, flowers, leaves

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed or root offshoots.

Its other names

Local names

Ban pan, Chabo, Chiya ghass, Duan ju, Pahari pan, Pahari pipar, Pipala, Sindri

Synonyms

Chavica muellesua (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) Miquel; Chavica sphaerostachya Wallich ex Miquel; Piper brachystachyum Wall. ex Hook.f. nom illeg.; Piper guigual Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don;