SA Agro Enterprise

Black pepper, Piper nigrum, is a climbing perennial plant in the family Piperaceae which is grown for its fruits. ... Black pepper may be vining or have bushy, wooden stems. The plant has simple, alternating leaves which are oval in shape and produces clusters, or spikes, of 50 to 150 flowers.

The small flowers are in dense slender spikes of about 50 blossoms each. The fruits, which are sometimes called peppercorns, are drupes about 5 mm (0.2 inch) in diameter. They become yellowish red at maturity and bear a single seed. Their odour is penetrating and aromatic; the taste is hot, biting, and very pungent.