| Piper retrofractum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Piperales |
| Family: | Piperaceae |
| Genus: | Piper |
| Species: | P. retrofractum |
| Binomial name | |
| Piper retrofractum | |
| Synonyms | |
Piper retrofractum, theBalinese long pepper orJavanese long pepper, is a flowering vine in the familyPiperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as aspice and seasoning.[citation needed] This species is native toJava island in Indonesia.[citation needed]
In Cambodia, it is known asដីប្លីdei-phlei and in Thailand asดีปลีdeebplee. In theMalay Archipelago, the fruit was once known ascabai; however, its culinary popularity was superseded by thechilli, brought over from theNew World by European traders, resulting in asemantic shift in which the new crop becamecabai, and the old becamecabai jawa.[1][2]
The plant is a climbing vine with stems of about 3–4 mm in diameter. Its leaves have blades that areglabrous,lanceolate, with acuminate apex and asymmetric base, and are about 10–12 cm long and 3–3.5 cm wide. The vine has been described asdioecious ormonoecious,[3] with male spikes of about 5 cm long and female spikes about 4 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide, and part of the ovaries are attached on the axis. Its berries are spherical and arranged densely on the axis.[4]
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