Piperaceae FAMILY

Piper umbellatum

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

The acrid compounds of the leaves and roots are irritant in high doses and cause severe inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. They cause burning, salivation, stomatitis, vomiting, severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea^[1]. The plant is an ingredient of an arrow poison^[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial Climber

Growth—

The plant has become widely naturalized in tropical areas^[1]. It is a common weed of plantations; in cacao farms in Ghana and in oil-palm plantations in Cameroon it can be troublesome^[1]. The plant can flower all year round if there is sufficient moisture^[1].

Propagation

Seed - The seeds show dormancy, which can be broken by direct sunlight^[1]. Division of suckers Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Piper+umbellatum>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
[2]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
[3]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
[4]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.