Plant · P-651

Long Pepper

Piper longum

Long Pepper is a light climbing shrub of humid tropical understories, grown for its unripe flowering spikes, which are picked whole and dried into a hot, aromatic spice used in curries, pickles, and Moroccan spice blends, or as an adulterant of black pepper. It has a long history in both traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda for digestive complaints, colds, and joint pain. Growing only about 3 m and needing light shade rather than full sun, it occupies the same understorey niche as commercial black pepper and climbs a trellis, post, or host tree rather than a plant a garden has to make room for. It cannot take a hard frost, but its small size, shade tolerance, and fruit borne right on the vine make it an easy candidate for container growing under cover where winters freeze.