Species
+

Piper sarmentosum Roxb.

jia ju, នាកាឡាក់

Climate known 47 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Piper sarmentosum is a plant in the family Piperaceae used in many Southeast Asian cuisines. The leaves are often confused with betel, but they lack the intense taste of the betel leaves and are significantly smaller.

Text from Wikipedia, “Piper sarmentosum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

Family
Piperaceae
Described by
Roxb.
Native to
China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast +16
Wild records
966 in range· 312 open

At a glance

Warmest month
30°C
Jul, mean day; nights 25 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1869mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Aug 250 mm (CHELSA)
Light
25–34DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by Piperaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October at the habitat (not shifted). Habitat rain 1869 mm a year, wettest August at 250 mm, driest December at 38 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 34 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 16.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Chavica hainana C.DC.; Chavica sarmentosa (Roxb.) Miq.; Peperomia sarmentosa (Roxb.) A.Dietr.; Piper albispicum C.DC.; Piper allenii C.DC. and 11 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by Piperaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October at the habitat (not shifted).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1388 mm of 1869 mm) falls in May to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 26.8 °C against a yearly mean of 24.4 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1869 mm a year, wettest August at 250 mm, driest December at 38 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1869 mm a year at the habitat, 1388 mm of it May to October. Wettest month August at 250 mm, driest December at 38 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1414 mm to 3121 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 34 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 34 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 16.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 16.9 °C, the absolute minimum 12.0 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 30.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 15.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 8.9 °C to 24.3 °C), warmest day 30.1 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 16.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER); the archetype table's minimum for a tropical foliage plant, 12 °C, is lower and does not raise it.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 62 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 23 °C in Dec to 30 °C in Jul; mean night from 16 °C in Jan to 25 °C in Jul. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1869 mm of rain a year, most in Aug. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 543 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 12.0 °C and the 99th-percentile day 30.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°30.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)12.0° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 25–34RH 62–66 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 543 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C24 / 17–3026 / 18–3227 / 20–3329 / 24–3429 / 26–3330 / 27–3230 / 27–3230 / 27–3229 / 26–3128 / 25–3026 / 22–3023 / 18–30
Night °C16 / 9–2417 / 11–2520 / 13–2522 / 17–2623 / 20–2624 / 21–2625 / 21–2624 / 20–2624 / 20–2522 / 18–2520 / 14–2517 / 9–25
Rain mm44 / 11–26165 / 15–25393 / 33–269160 / 70–272231 / 152–330237 / 129–419231 / 135–405250 / 142–424246 / 115–428193 / 56–38381 / 34–34738 / 9–301
DLI28 / 16–3431 / 17–3834 / 20–4034 / 24–4033 / 27–3632 / 28–3533 / 29–3732 / 28–3530 / 27–3529 / 24–3426 / 19–3125 / 17–32
RH %63 / 56–6864 / 57–6864 / 57–6865 / 58–6966 / 62–6966 / 62–7065 / 62–7066 / 62–7066 / 63–7064 / 59–6963 / 57–6962 / 55–69

Each figure is the median across the 543 grid cells holding the 937 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1347:6005 (22.625, 120.275). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 12.0 °C, 1st-percentile night 16.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 543 distinct grid cells holding the 937 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1347:6005 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 22.50_120.000, lapse-corrected +34 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 35 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Tibet, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Jawa, Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sumatera, New Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland· introduced: Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, India, Sri Lanka, Caroline Is., Hawaii, Trinidad-Tobago
Kew's description“scrambling subshrub” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker1.351, 103.785 · in the densest population, 296 records (31% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 966 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 312 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 5 km away. 135 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 29 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 966 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Piper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosumPiper sarmentosum

Photographs: (c) vrxz, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Lucas Christofides, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Akhil Muhammad, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Cheongweei Gan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) 謝麗霦, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Kevin Faccenda, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Piper sarmentosum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Chemical constituents and bioactivity of Piper sarmentosum
Thitima Rukachaisirikul, Puttan Siriwattanakit, Kanchanawadee Sukcharoenphol, Chanika Wongvein (2004) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Hypoglycemic effect of the water extract of Piper sarmentosum in rats
Penchom Peungvicha, Suwan Thirawarapan, Rungravi Temsiririrkkul, Hiroshi Watanabe (1998) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
In vivo anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the aqueous extract of the leaves of Piper sarmentosum
Z.A. Zakaria, H. Patahuddin, Azam Shah Mohamad, Daud Ahmad Israf (2009) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Antiviral and cytotoxic activities of some plants used in Malaysian indigenous medicine
Abdul Manaf Ali, Muhammad Mukram Mohamed Mackeen, Saleh El-Sharkawy, Junainah Abdul Hamid (1996) · Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository (Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Intrinsic anticarcinogenic effects of Piper sarmentosum ethanolic extract on a human hepatoma cell line
Shahrul Hisham Zainal Ariffin, Wan Haifa Haryani Wan Omar, Zaidah Zainal Ariffin, Muhd Fauzi Safian (2009) · Cancer Cell International
Effects of Piper longum fruit, Piper sarmentosum root and Quercus infectoria nut gall on caecal amoebiasis in mice
Nongyao Sawangjaroen, Kitja Sawangjaroen, Pathana Poonpanang (2004) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Antimicrobial phenylpropanoids from Piper sarmentosum
Toshiya Masuda, Aya Inazumi, Yasumasa Yamada, William G. Padolina (1991) · Phytochemistry
Chemical Constituents of the Roots of Piper Sarmentosum
Pittaya Tuntiwachwuttikul, Photchana Phansa, Yupa Pootaeng‐on, Walter Charles Taylor (2006) · Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
Natural Antioxidants: Piper sarmentosum (Kadok) and Morinda elliptica (Mengkudu).
V. Subramaniam, Mohd Ilham Adenan, Abdull Rashih Ahmad, Rohana Sahdan (2003) · PubMed
Antioxidative and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Some Plants Used in Thai Folk Medicine
Nongporn Hutadilok‐Towatana, P. Chaiyamutti, Kanda Panthong, Wilawan Mahabusarakam (2006) · Pharmaceutical Biology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Piper 3 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 57 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.