Plant · P-938

Betel

Piper betle

Betel is a fast-growing woody climbing vine grown for its leaves which are chewed with areca palm seed and lime as a mild stimulant after meals and used topically and in poultices for wounds ulcers bruises and respiratory complaints. Native to the humid lowland tropics below about 900 m; it wants shade and shelter from wind and climbs to about 5 m in cultivation though it can run to 20 m given tall support. Thrives between 22-27 C and tolerates 17-31 C with heavy year-round rainfall of 2250-4750 mm and consistently high humidity. Wants deep well-drained friable soil rich in organic matter with a loamy to clayey texture; the two pH figures reported for this species disagree sharply and neither is recorded here until a second source resolves them. Dioecious - a female vine needs a male nearby to set seed - and propagated almost entirely from thirty to forty-five centimetre stem cuttings bearing three to five nodes. Matures in about eighteen months and is harvested three to four times a year; chewing the prepared quid is linked to oral and tongue cancers with habitual use.