Synonym: Cubeba canina; Cubeba lanata; Peperomia lanata; Piper banksii; Piper kietanum C.DC.
Region: Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines to New Guinea, northern Australia, Solomon Islands
Botany: evergreen, slender-stemmed, vigorous climber, to 10 m tall; habitat mixed forest, village thickets, at low elevations,sun or some shade, soil is moist; dioecious; fruits ± 5 mm, smell of anise; ripen a few at a time, turning to dark red.
Content: bornyl coumarate.
Use: fruit as a flavouring, Besisi people in Malaysia; fruits used as a substitute for cubebs,
Piper betle; condiment; ground cover; leaves chewed as a masticatory.
SourcesAustralian Rainforest
Plants Volumes 1 - 6; Nicholson N. & H.; Terania Rainforest Publishing; New South Wales; 2007; ISBN 9-78095894-3628.
The Gardens' Bulletin Straits Settlements Vol VI; Singapore Botanic Gardens; Singapore; 1930.
Plant Resources of Southeast Asia: http://proseanet.org.
Plants for a Future; Ken Fern.