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Piper aduncum
Also called Spiked Pepper, Bamboo Piper
Piper aduncum is a fast-growing, evergreen shrub or small tree in the pepper family, native to tropical Central and South America, with peppery-scented leaves. It is grown mainly in warm, wet climates and is invasive in some places.
Piper aduncum, the spiked pepper, matico, hierba del soldado, achotlín, cordoncillo, higuillo or higuillo de hoja menuda, is a flowering plant in the family Piperaceae. Like many species in the family, the matico tree has a peppery odor. It grows wild on the coasts and in the forests of Central and South America and in the Interandean Valleys, up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level.
It is native to Southern Mexico, the Caribbean, and much of tropical South America. It is grown in tropical Asia, Polynesia, and Melanesia and can even be found in Florida, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. In some countries matico is considered as an invasive weed. In parts of New Guinea, although matico is notorious for drying out the soil in the areas where it is invasive; the wood of this plant is nonetheless used by local residents for a myriad of uses such as for fuel and fence posts.
Vera cruz pepper · Betel · Madagascan Wild Pepper · Javanese Long Pepper · Cubeb · Piper darienense · Pepper · Kadsura Pepper · Long pepper · Kava · Black pepper · Javanese long pepper
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Piper aduncum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
