Black Pepper

The source of black and white pepper.

Climbers woody. Nodes clearly enlarged and rooting, glabrous. Petiole 1-2 cm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate to ovate-oblong, rarely suborbicular, 10-15 × 5-9 cm, thick, ± leathery, glabrous, base rounded, usually slightly oblique, apex acute; veins 5-7(-9), apical pair arising 1.5-3.5 cm above base, alternate, others basal; reticulate veins prominent. Flowers polygamous, usually monoecious. Spikes leaf-opposed, to as long as leaves; peduncle nearly as long as petioles, glabrous; bracts spatulate-oblong, 3-3.5 × ca. 0.8 mm, adaxially adnate to rachis, only margin and broad, rounded apex free, shallowly cupular. Stamens 2, 1 on each side of ovary; filaments thick, short; anthers reniform. Ovary globose; stigmas 3 or 4, rarely 5. Drupe red when ripe, drying black when unripe, globose, 3-4 mm in diam., sessile. Fl. Jun-Oct.

Widely cultivated, often in forest clearings. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan [native to SE Asia]