Definition

Noun: * Piper nigrum: A tropical climbing vine (Piper nigrum) native to South India, cultivated for its fruit, which is dried and used as the spice known as black pepper, white pepper, and green pepper. The plant produces small, dark red berries when fully ripe.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The plantation specializes in growing Piper nigrum for the international spice market.
  • Black pepper, white pepper, and green pepper all come from the same plant, Piper nigrum.

Advanced Usage

• Botanical Context: The term is used in scientific, agricultural, and botanical contexts to refer to the plant species itself, distinguishing it from the finished spice product (pepper).
  • The study focused on the cultivation requirements of Piper nigrum in different climates.

Variants and Related Words

• Pepper plant: A common name for .
• Black pepper: The spice produced by drying the unripe drupes of .
• White pepper: The spice produced by removing the outer coat from the ripe drupes of .
• Peppercorn: The dried berry of .

Synonyms

• Pepper vine
• Common pepper plant

Related Phrases

• Genus Piper: The taxonomic genus to which belongs, which includes other plants like (long pepper).
  • Piper nigrum is the most economically important species in the genus Piper.

Noun

1. climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe; southern India and Sri Lanka; naturalized in northern Burma and Assam