Piper sanctum
(Miq.) Schltdl.
Hierba santa
(c) Judith Areli Nájera, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Judith Areli Nájera, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Judith Areli Nájera, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves - flavouring
The leaves are used as a flavoring, wrapped around fish while cooking or added to soups.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in wet forests. It grows from sea level to 2,500 m above sea level.
Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, Mexico, North America,
How to Identify
An evergreen shrub in the Piperaceae family that grows 2–4 m tall, found in tropical wet forests from sea level to 2,500 m elevation.
How to Grow
Closely related to kava kava (P. Methysticum).
Medicinal Uses
A decoction of the leaves is used for treating indigestion and abdominal cramps. The plant is a stimulant. The plant contains kava lactones. In popular medicine the plant is used as a stimulant and as a local anaesthetic, and for toothache, stomach affections, and venereal diseases.
Names & Synonyms
Aceuyo
References (7)
- A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 16(1):330. 1869
- Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 172
- Ferns, Useful Tropical Plants
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 664
- Uphof,
- Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 535
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
