betel leaf, daun sirih

Description:

This is a betel leaf plant, a creeper or "vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, which includes pepper and kava. [It's leaf and fruit are] valued both as a mild stimulant and for its medicinal properties. Betel leaf [or fruit] is mostly consumed in Asia [and the Pacific], and elsewhere in the world by some Asian emigrants..." In New Guinea and elsewhere it is chewed together with Areca palm nuts ("betel nut") and lime produced from fired sea shells. The concoction "is an addictive [mild] psycho-stimulating and euphoria-inducing formulation with adverse health effects."

Habitat:

Planted by a matoa tree (Pometia pinnata) in a large semi-urban yard & garden in the equatorial tropics of northern New Guinea.

Notes:

This vine was planted to produce the fruit for betel nut chewing. The spikes of fruit can grow thicker than a pencil but the ones featured in this spotting are newly emerged.