pepper family

[Kit]

tropical woody vines and herbaceous plants having aromatic herbage and minute flowers in spikelets

[Jason Yan]

The pepper family, scientifically known as Piperaceae, is a large plant family consisting of about 5 genera and 1,800-2,000 species of perennial herbs, shrubs, and climbers. The family is most known for the Piper nigrum, the black pepper plant, which is cultivated for its fruit and medicinal properties. Other notable species include Piper betle, used in traditional medicine and to wrap betel nuts, and Piper methysticum, or kava, used to produce a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. The plants are largely tropical and subtropical, distributed in all continents except Antarctica.