Piper L.

The Piper genus is pantropical, and has about 500 species in the New World alone, 93 of which are found in Costa Rica (Fleming 1983). Commonly found in humid and forested areas within the understories of rainforests, they prefer disturbed areas and tree-fall gaps of any size (Nee 2004, Fleming 1983). Piper is found from sea level to at least 2,000 meters in elevation (Fleming 1983). Most pipers are terrestrial, existing as small herbs, small trees, shrubs of about 2-3 meters high, and some as lianas (Nee 2004, Fleming 1983). Trees are at least 10 meters in height and are all stilt-rooted (Gentry 1996). The leaves often have asymmetrical bases and have a licorice like Ranalean odor (Fleming 1983, Gentry 1996). They have inflorescences opposite to the leaves and swollen nodes. Hundreds of small, perfect flowers crowd together. Anthers and thecae contain 2 slits, and a syncarpous gynoecium with 3-4 carpels and a superior ovary. Only 1 locule is present (Nee 2004). Pollinators include small stingless bees such as Trigona, small beetles, and drosophilid flies (Fleming 1983). In terms of the infrutescence, it is finger-like, and erect. It gives off single-seeded drupaceous fruits that are easily pulled off when the fruit is ripe (Zuchowski 2007). The fruit’s candle-like appearance gives the genus its common name in Spanish, Candela. Dispersers are mostly phyllostomid bats, but some birds have been known to feed on the fruits from time to time. Corollia perspicillata, or the “Piper-eating bat”, is just one of the members of its genus that eat almost entirely Piper fruit (Fleming 1983). On the fly, they take the infrutescence in their mouth and take it back to their roost to finish it. The seed’s germination success is independent of whether or not it passes through the bat (Fleming 1983). In wet and dry forests, Piper flowers and fruits in an alternating manner. Some plants even do so in three week intervals, as in Santa Rosa National Park in Costa Rica. P. amalago, P. pseudofuligineum, and P. marginatum have specific monthly fruiting periods that piper eating bats have picked up on. They switch quickly between the plants and their fruits to the next, and in one night can devour all the available ripe fruits. The fruit of Piper is a low-density resource for the bats and it is a readily available food source for them (Fleming 1983). Historically, members of Piper have been used medicinally and economically. P. nigrum is most commonly known as Black Pepper, one of the most widely used spices in the world (Heywood 1978, Nee 2004). Grinding the roots of P. methysticum creates the popular Polynesian beverage, Kava, which has relaxing qualities (Heywood 1978). Additionally, P. auritum has been important in folk medicine, in which the leaves can relieve headaches and decrease swelling when applied to wounds. It has even been used as fish bait on the Caribbean side of the Panamanian coast (Zuchowski 2007).