Wild Pepper

This species is sometimes placed in the genus Pothomorphe on the basis of the distinctive inflorescence.

Subshrubs erect, 1-2 m high. Stems thick, strong, striated. Petiole 15-25 cm, glabrous or ± hispidulous; leaf blade ovate or suborbicular, 17-37 × 15-32 cm, membranous, densely brown glandular, glabrous, or hispidulous along veins, base deeply cordate, ± bilaterally symmetric, apex mucronate or obtuse; veins 11-13, apical pair arising 1-2 cm above base, ± opposite, others basal. Flowers bisexual. Spikes (1-)2-7 in umbel-like clusters on short, axillary branches. Spikes 2-7 per umbel, 7-12 cm; peduncle of umbels thicker and longer than those of spikes; bracts triangular, ca. 1 × 0.5 mm, peltate, stalked, margin ciliate. Anthers much longer than filaments. Drupe obovoid or cuneate-obovoid, 0.7-1 × circa 0.5 mm, glandular. Fl. Nov

C and S Taiwan [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa, tropical and subtropical North and South America].

Wet places within forests; ca. 300 m.

Heckeria subpeltatum (Willdenow) Kunth; Lepianthes umbellatum (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ex Ramamoorthy; Piper postelsianum Maximowicz; P. subpeltatum Willdenow; P. umbellatum var. subpeltatum (Willdenow) C. de Candolle; Pothomorphe subpeltata (Willdenow) Miquel; P. umbellatum (Linnaeus) Miquel.

umbellatum: bearing flowers in umbels

A soft-wooded aromatic evergreen shrub, often straggling. Leaves very broadly ovate to almost round, up to 42 × 40 cm, 11-15-veined from a deeply cordate base, dark green above, much paler green below, mostly hairless on both surfaces, except for the base of the veins above, below and along the margins. Flowers in umbellate groups of 2-8 spikes, often on leafless axillary shoots, creamy-white. Fruit minute, less than 1 mm long.

Pantropical.

Pothomorphe umbellatum, or pariparoba, is a plant of Brazilian origin (atlantic wood)that has been traditionally used in folk remedies for digestive and liver-related maladies. In 2002, a research group based at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University discovered antibacterial properties of the plant specific to Helicobacter pylori. Two years later in laboratory testing at the Pharmaceutical Sciences College (FCF) of the University of São Paulo, molecules found within the plant were demonstrated to have UVB-protective properties. For its medicinal and cosmetic promise, the Brazilian pharmaceutical company Natura obtained exclusive marketing rights to products developed from the plant.