Common name: Pepper helda

Pepper helda is a  succulent herb with edible leaves and stems and is a close relative of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum). 

Widely distributed, its natural range extends from tropical America to tropical Africa and following introduction to other regions, is now cultivated and naturalised throughout the tropics and in warm subtropical areas, including parts of India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific.

It is a fast-growing, much-branched herb up to 40 cm (1.3 ft) tall, made up of soft, watery, green-white stems and glossy green heart-shaped leaves up to 3.8 cm (1.5 in ) long, alternately and spirally arranged along the stems. 

The flowers are greenish, small and insignificant, borne throughout the year on slender flower-spikes arising at the tips of the stems. They are followed by tiny, pin-head sized round fruit that are near black when ripe, striped lengthwise and with a single seed inside. After ripening, the fruit fall to the ground and the seed under moist conditions germinate readily.

Use

The succulent leaves and young stems are edible and are usually blanched and eaten as a herb or vegetable in salads, especially in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They have a crunchy texture and a mild flavour. The older stems tend to develop an astringent flavour and are avoided.

It is sometimes cultivated as a groundcover in shaded, permanently damp rockeries and ferneries for its upright form, lush green foliage and fast growth.

Climate

Grows naturally in damp places, in humid subtropical and tropical climates, generally frost-free areas with annual lows of 15 to 25°C, annual highs of 26 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 1100 to 6000 mm and a dry season of 5 months or less. Pepper Helda is also commonly cultivated in drier areas in pots (or containers) watered regularly.

Growing

New plants are usually started from cuttings, which produce roots from nodes along the stems, but they can also be grown from seed. It is a short-lived perennial, dying back after about a year.

Performs best on permanently damp, free-draining loam and sand soils of a moderately acid to alkaline nature, generally with a pH of 5.5 to 8.0, and on sites in filtered sun or light to medium shade.

Problem features

Pepper Helda self-propagates by re-seeding and the small seed are easily dispersed by flowing water. Because of their small size, they are sometimes carried unwittingly to new locations, with untreated potting mixes in plant containers one of the ways they get moved around.

It has widely naturalised and is reported as a weed in many countries. In Australia, it is classed as having escaped cultivation, a weed of the natural environment and a weed of agriculture, the third most serious weed class in that country, after invasive and noxious weeds.

Books

• Adams, C. D. 1972, Flowering plants of Jamaica, University of the West Indies, Mona, Greater Kingston

• Cassidy, F. G. & Le Page, R. B. 1980, Dictionary of Jamaican English, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridgeshire

• Chaplin, L. T. & Brandies M. M. 1998, The Florida Gardener's Book of Lists, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas

• Gargiullo, M. B & Magnuson, B. L. & Kimball, Larry D. 2008, A field guide to plants of Costa Rica, Oxford University Press, Oxford

• Jacquat, C. & Bertossa, G. 1990, Plants from the markets of Thailand : descriptions and uses of 241 wild and cultivated plants, with 341 colour photographs, Editions Duang Kamol, Bangkok

• Martin, F. W & Ruberte, R. M. 1975, Edible leaves of the tropics, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

• Schmelzer G.H., et al. 2008, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, Volume 11(1) : Medicinal Plants 1, PROTA Foundation, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden

• Seidemann, J. 2005, World spice plants: economic usage botany taxonomy, Springer-Verlag, Berlin

• Staples, G. & Kristiansen, M. S. 1999, Ethnic culinary herbs : a guide to identification and cultivation in Hawaii, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu