Piperaceae

Black pepper

Piper nigrum L.

Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Piper

Pets and kids

CatsNot sure
DogsNot sure
KidsNot sure

Why

Cats: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for cats, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with your vet.

Dogs: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for dogs, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with your vet.

Kids: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for young children, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with a doctor or poison control.

Ate some? Call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 (a fee may apply). For a child, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (US). If they are struggling to breathe or collapse, call 911. Don't give anything by mouth unless a vet or poison expert tells you to.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) — FruitPhoto: Klaus Wehrlin, CC0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (128)

aeb: Felfel ak7al, فلفل أكحل
Afrikaans: Peper
Amharic: ቁንደ በርበሬ
Arabic: فلفل أسود, الفلفل الأسود, فلفل أكحل, فلفل اسود, فلفل عجمي, فلفل عطر
Armenian: Սև պղպեղ
ary: بزار
arz: فلفل
Asturian: Pimienta
Azerbaijani: Qara istiot
ban: Mica
Bangla: গোল মরিচ
bar: Pfefa
Basque: Piperbeltz
Belarusian: Перац чорны
Bhojpuri: काली मरिच
bik: Paminta
bjn: Sahang
Bosnian: Biber
Breton: Pebr
btm: Lada Hitam
Bulgarian: Черен пипер, Чер пипер
Burmese: ငရုတ်ကောင်းပင်, ငရုပ်ကောင်းပင်
Cantonese: 胡椒, 白胡椒, 黑胡椒
Catalan: Pebre negre, Pebre, Pebre blanc, Pebre bo, Pebre mòlt, Pebre verd, Pebrebò, Pebrebó
Chinese: 胡椒, 白胡椒, 胡椒（黑胡椒）, 绿胡椒, 胡椒子, 胡椒面, 黑川, 黑椒
Croatian: Papar, Biber
cv: Хура пăрăç
Czech: Pepřovník černý, Pepř černý
Danish: Sort Peber, Peber
Divehi: އަސޭމިރުސް
Dutch: Peper, Peperkorrels, Zwarte peper
English: Black pepper, Black pepper plant, Peppercorn
Esperanto: Piprarbusto, Nigra pipero, Pipro nigra
Estonian: Pipar, Piprad
Filipino: Paminta
Finnish: Pippuri, Mustapippuri, Valkopippuri, Viherpippuri
French: Poivre
Galician: Pementeira
German: Pfeffer
gor: Malita Jawa
Greek: Πέπερι το μέλαν
gsw: Pfeffer
Gujarati: કાળા મરી
Haitian Creole: Pwav
hak: Fû-chiau
Hebrew: פלפל שחור, פלפל
Hindi: काली मिर्च, कलि मिर्च्, कालीमिर्च
hsb: Čorny popjerjowc
Hungarian: Fekete bors, Bors, Feketebors
hyw: Սեւ Պղպեղ
Icelandic: Pipar
Igbo: Peppercorn
Indonesian: Lada, Lada hitam, Merica, Pepper, Sahang
Interlingua: Pipere
io: Pipro nigra, Pipro
Irish: Piobar dubh, Piobar
Japanese: コショウ, こしょう, コショー, ブラックペッパー, ペッパ, ペッパー, 胡椒, 黒胡椒
Javanese: Mrica, Merica
Kannada: ಕರಿಮೆಣಸು, ಕಾಳುಮೆಣಸು
Kazakh: Қара бұрыш
kbd: Бурч, Бурш
Korean: 후추, 통후추, 후춧가루
ks: مرٕژ
ksh: Peffer
Kurdish: Bîbera reş, Filfil
Kyrgyz: Мурч
lah: کالی مرچ
Latvian: Melnais piparkrūms, Melnais pipars, Melnie pipari
li: Paeper
lij: Peive
Lingala: Ndóngó
Lithuanian: Juodasis pipiras, Juodieji pipirai
Macedonian: Црн пипер
mad: Sa'ang
Maithili: मरिच
Malagasy: Dipoavatra mainty
Malay: Lada hitam, Lada putih
Malayalam: കുരുമുളക്, Black pepper, Pepper, കുരുമുളകു്, മരിചം
Marathi: मिरवेल, काळे मिरे, मिरे
min: Marica
mnc: ᡥᠠᠯᡥᡡᡵᡳ
mzn: گرمداری
nah: Caxtillān chīlli
Nepali: मरिच, कालो मरिच
nia: Lada
Norwegian Bokmål: Svart pepper, Krydderpepper, Sort pepper, Svartpepper
Norwegian Nynorsk: Pepar, Peber, Peppar, Pepper
nrm: Paîvre
Odia: ଗୋଲ ମରିଚ
Oromo: Qundabarbaree
os: Бырц, Бурцæ
Pashto: تور مرچ
Persian: فلفل سیاه
Polish: Pieprz czarny
Portuguese: Pimenta-preta, Pimenta do reino, Pimenta-do-reino, Pimenteira
Punjabi: ਕਾਲੀ ਮਿਰਚ
Quechua: Yana piminta, Q'umir piminta, Qumir piminta, Yuraq piminta
Russian: Чёрный перец, Перец зеленый, Перец черный, Черный перец
Sanskrit: मरीचम्, वल्लीजम्
sc: Pibiri
scn: Pipi spezzî, Pipi spezzi, Spezziu, Spezzî
Scottish Gaelic: Peabar
Serbian: Бибер
Serbian (Latin): Biber, Papar
shn: တူၼ်ႈၽိတ်ႉပွမ်ႈ, တူၼ်ႈမၢၵ်ႇၽိတ်ႉပွမ်ႈ
Sindhi: ڪارا مرچ
Slovak: Piepor čierny
Slovenian: Črni poper
Sundanese: Pedes, Marica, Sahang
Swedish: Peppar
Tajik: Мурч
Tamil: மிளகு
Tatar: Кара борыч
tcy: ಎಡ್ಡೆಮುಂಚಿ
Telugu: నల్ల మిరియాలు
Thai: พริกไทย, Black pepper, พริกไท, พริกไทยขาว, พริกไทยดำ
Turkish: Karabiber
Ukrainian: Перець чорний, Стручковий перець, Чорний перець
Urdu: کالی مرچ
Uyghur: قارامۇچ
Uzbek: Murch
vec: Pévaro, Pear, Peare, Pearo, Pepe, Pevare, Pevaro, Pèar
Vietnamese: Hồ tiêu, Bạch cổ nguyệt, Cây hồ tiêu, Cổ nguyệt, Hạt tiêu, Hắc cổ nguyệt
vls: Peper
Welsh: Pupur du
wuu: 黑胡椒
xmf: Უჩა ზაფანა
Yiddish: שווארצער פעפער, שווארצע פעפער

Synonyms

Muldera multinervis Miq.
Muldera wightiana Miq.
Piper aromaticum Lam.
Piper baccatum C.DC.
Piper colonum C.Presl
Piper denudatum Opiz
Piper glabrispica C.DC.
Piper glyphicum Hoffmanns. ex Kunth
Piper laxum Vahl
Piper malabarense C.DC.
Piper nigricans Willd. ex Link
Piper nigrum var. hirtellosum Asokan Nair & Ravindran
Piper nigrum var. trioicum (Roxb.) C.DC.
Piper rotundum Noronha
Piper trioicum Roxb.
Rhyncholepis haeankeana Miq.

Characteristics

In the US and Canada: Pacific Basin: introduced

Photos

FruitPhoto: Klaus Wehrlin, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: 68-Chingrak Marak, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Navaneeth Sini George, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: JF LE MAOUT, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Stephanie Tran, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: NorbertNagel, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: cm.lumix, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Sindhu Haridas, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: cm.lumix, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: S.MORE, CC0, from iNaturalist

More in Piper

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.