Wild pepper, Staart pepper
Piper capense

Family: Piperaceae

What it is like

A soft wooded straggling herb. It can also be a small tree. It can grow to 4 m high. The bark is light brown and corky. The stems and branches have thickened nodes. The leaves are simple and alternate. The leaves are 7-15 cm long and broad. They are dark green and glossy above. They are paler underneath. The tip tapers towards a point. The base has shallow lobes. The leaf stalk is 2-4 cm long. There are leafy arrangements (stipules) near the leaf stalk. The flowers are white and small. they occur in dense spikes 8 cm long. These are on short side branches. The fruit is a round berry. These are densely clustered along the stalk about 8 cm long. They are green at first then turn black when ripe.

There are between 1000-2000 Piper species. They are mostly in the tropics.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It occurs in moist, shady places, in forests and along streams. In Zimbabwe it grows between 650-2,250 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo DR, East Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinée, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The berries are spicy and can be used to flavour soups and stews. The leaves can be eaten and used to flavour salads, soups and stews.

Edible parts

Seeds, spice, fruit, leaves

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Akachoat, Biabi, Bie, Ngonyi, Pelepele, Phelphele, Torato, Umukoonjoro, Uziza

Synonyms

Piper brachyrachis C. H. Wright; Piper brachyrachis var. glabrum Balle;