Taxon: Piper auritum Kunth

Summary

Genus:

Piper

Family:

Piperaceae

Nomen number:

312915

Place of publication:

F. W. H. A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. gen. sp. 1:45[folio]; 1:54[quarto]. 1816

Verified:

03/18/1997 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

2 (1 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
Callejas, R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. Spanish common names
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Facciola, S. 1998. Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants Note: Kampong Publications
Jardín Botánico Nacional. 1998-. Flora de la República de Cuba
Jimenéz-Durán, A. et al. 2021. Biological activity of phytochemicals from agricultural wastes and weeds on Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Sustainability 13:13896. DOI: 10.3390/su132413896.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Llamas, K. A. 2003. Tropical flowering plants: a guide to identification and cultivation
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Ramírez Amezcua, J. M. 2016. Piper commutatum (Piperaceae), the correct name for a widespread species in Mexico and Mesoamerica. Acta Bot. Mex. 116:9-19.
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Tebbs, M. C. 1990. Revision of Piper (Piperaceae) in the New World. 2. The taxonomy of Piper section Churumayu. Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Bot. 20(2):234.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	ear-leaf pepper	1	Llamas, K. A. 2003. Tropical flowering plants: a guide to identification and cultivation
English	Mexican pepperleaf	1	Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
English	sacred pepper	1	Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
English	Vera Cruz pepper	1	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Spanish	anisillo	2	Callejas, R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. Spanish common names
Spanish	cordoncillo	2	Callejas, R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. Spanish common names
Spanish	hierba santa	2	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Spanish	hoja de Santa María	2	Facciola, S. 1998. Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants Note: Kampong Publications
Spanish	Santa María	2	Callejas, R. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. Spanish common names
Spanish (Mexico)	hoja santa	2	Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Coahuila de Zaragoza		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Nuevo León		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sonora		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Hidalgo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	México		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Morelos		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Puebla		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Querétaro		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Belize
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica			Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	El Salvador
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Panama
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica		natzd.?	Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica

Native
Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, México, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia

Cultivated
Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Cuba

Naturalized
Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Cuba, Jamaica (natzd.?)

Reference(s)

Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:835. DOI: 10.1016/j.mb.2016.06.017.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Food additives	flavoring		Jardín Botánico Nacional. 1998-. Flora de la República de Cuba
Food additives	flavoring		Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Medicines	folklore		Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore		McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Non-vertebrate poisons	plant pest control	potential	Jimenéz-Durán, A. et al. 2021. Biological activity of phytochemicals from agricultural wastes and weeds on Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Sustainability 13:13896. DOI: 10.3390/su132413896.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=312915. Accessed 12 May 2026.