Piper nigrum L.

PIPERACEAE

 

Vernacular names:

Hindi              - Kali mirch

Kannada         - Kari menasu

Malayalam       - Kuru mulaku

Marathi           - Kalamiri

Sanskrit          - Maricha

Tamil              - Milagu, Kuru milagu

Telugu            - Mirialu

 

Threat status:

Lower Risk near threatened - KA, KL & TN

 

Habit: Climbing shrub

 

Habitat: Moist deciduous to shola forests

 

Altitude: 600 - 2000 m

 

Distribution: Global: Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Extensively cultivated, for its spicy fruits, in many moist tropical regions of the world. National: Believed to be a native of southern India. Regional: Common in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Occasional in the Eastern Ghats of east Godavari and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Description: Stout, hairless, climbing shrubs, rooting at nodes. Branches cylindrical, easily broken at nodes. Leaves dimorphic, alter­nate; lower leaves heart-shaped-egg-shaped, about 5 cm across, stalkless; upper leaves broadly egg-shaped to elliptic-egg-shaped, 10­ 20 x 6-10 cm, base rounded and unequal, apex acuminate, marginl entire, with 5-7 basal nerves, hairless, papery, with long stalks. Male, female and bisexual flowers are seen in separate spikes. The flower­ing spikes 6-15 cm long, leaf-opposed, cylindrical, pendulous, green­ish yellow. Berries ovoid-globose, about 5 mm across, obscurely 8­angled, green turning red and ripening black.

 

Phenology: Flowering & Fruiting: May to July; September to December

 

Medicinal uses: An important medicinal plant in all classical systems of Indian medicine. Dried fruits are used to cure fever with rigor, chest conjestion, abdominal ulcers, tastelessness, pimples of puberty, eye diseases, excessive sleep, piles, indigestion, diarrhoea, cough, obes­ity, eczema and best antidote to any type of poison.

 

Trade information: Local, regional, national and global. Traded in very large volumes. Traded material is almost entirely obtained from cultivations. The unripe (black pepper) and ripe (white pepper) fruits of Piper nigrum are sold as Kaali miricha, Golemiricha, Dakkani miricha or Sated miricha. Priced at As. 280 to 400/Kg. (Market Studies, 1999­2000).

 

Mode of propagation: By stem cuttings and seeds

 

Special characters: The presence of two types of leaves, pendulous flowering spikes and black ribbed fruits are important field characters.