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Piper betle
Also called Betel Pepper, Betelvine, Betel Leaf
Betel (Piper betle) is an evergreen climbing vine in the pepper family, grown mainly for its glossy heart-shaped leaves. It needs warm, humid conditions, a support to climb, and consistently moist but well-drained soil.
Betel (Piper betle) is a species of flowering plant in the pepper family Piperaceae, native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious vine, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their leaves, which are most commonly used as flavoring for chewing areca nut in so-called betel quid (often confusingly referred to as "betel nut"), which is carcinogenic, contains a psychostimulant drug, and is associated with a wide range of serious health conditions.
The betel leaf is cultivated mostly in South and Southeast Asia, from India to Papua New Guinea. It needs a compatible tree or a long pole for support. Betel requires well-drained fertile soil. Waterlogged, saline and alkali soils are unsuitable for its cultivation.
In Bangladesh, farmers called barui prepare a garden called a barouj in which to grow betel. The barouj is fenced with bamboo sticks and coconut leaves. The soil is plowed into furrows of 10 to 15 m length, 75 cm in width and 75 cm depth. Oil cakes, manure, and leaves are thoroughly incorporated with the topsoil of the furrows and wood ash. The cuttings are planted at the beginning of the monsoon season.
Piper betle is originally native to Southeast Asia, from India, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia to Indochina, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh. . Its cultivation has spread along with the Austronesian migrations and trade to other parts of Island Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, Micronesia, South Asia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Réunion Island, and Madagascar. It was introduced during the Colonial Era to the Caribbean by Indian indentured immigrants.
Betel vines are cultivated throughout southeast Asia, in plots typically 20 to 2,000 square metres (0.005 to 0.5 acre) in size.
Higuillo de hoja menuda · Vera cruz pepper · 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 Betel 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.
