Piperaceae is commonly known as the pepper family. The name Piperaceae comes from the Sanskrit ‘pippali’ which also gave rise to the Greek ‘peperi’, the Latin ‘piper’ and the English ‘pepper’. Originally this referred to Piper longum, the Indian long pepper. These days, the most well-known member of the family is Piper nigrum, the source of the spices black and white pepper (Purseglove). Don’t get confused with the sweet, chilli and cayenne peppers which are all species of Capsicum, a genus in the family Solanaceae. There is more on the economic and other uses of Piperaceae plants later on.
