Piperaceae
The Piperaceae (/ˌpɪpəˈreɪʃiː/), also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in 5 genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: Piper (2,171 species) and Peperomia (over 1,000 species).[2]
Members of the Piperaceae may be small trees, shrubs, or herbs. The distribution of this group is best described as pantropical.
The best-known species, Piper nigrum, yields most peppercorns that are used as spices, including black pepper, although its relatives in the family include many other spices.[3]
The name Piperaceae is likely to be derived from the Sanskrit term pippali, Sanskrit: पिप्पली, which was used to describe long peppers (like those of Piper longum).
The APG III system of 2009 recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Piperales in the unranked clade magnoliids.[1] The family consists of five genera: Piper, Peperomia, Zippelia, Manekia, and Verhuellia. The previously recognised Pacific genus Macropiper, was recently merged into Piper.[4] A tentative cladogram showing relationships based on Wanke et al. (2007)[5] is shown below. This phylogeny was based on 6,000 base pairs of chloroplast DNA. Only recently has it become clear that Verhuellia is sister to the other four genera in the family.[6]
Plants are often rhizomatous, and can be terrestrial or epiphytic. The stems can be either simple or branched.
