Piper sarmentosum Roxb. ex W .Hunter
Wild Pepper / Sirih kaduk (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial herb that can reach up to 60 cm high. Leaves are simple, alternate arranged, dark green, finely glandular, abaxially covered with finely powdery particles when young and adaxially glabrous. Leaf blade is ovate-lanceolate, acute at apex, cordate to rounded at base with entire margin. Stems are brownish and erect. Flowers are white and cylindrical. Inflorescence a club-shaped spike arising at leaf axils.
Locally, the leaves are made into an infusion and used as herbal bath for mother after childbirth to regain health. Stem decoction is taken orally to relieve stomach pain and gastric complaints especially for children. The sheaths are pounded and applied externally to abdominal area as a poultice to relieve indigestion and other stomach complaints. Antimicrobial, antitumour, antinociceptive and antibacterial activities are reported for this
It thrives in forests, wet areas and near villages. It prefers fertile, moist but well-drained loamy soil under full sunlight to partial shade.
Stem cutting.
Native to Indonesia.
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