Pepper elder

Flowering year-round, the plant is found in various shaded, damp habitats all over Asia and the Americas. It grows in clumps, thriving in loose, humid soils and a tropical to subtropical climate.

Peperomia pellucida has been used as a food item as well as a medicinal herb. Although mostly grown for its ornamental foliage, the entire plant is edible, both cooked and raw.

The analgesic properties of the plant seem to be related to its effect on prostaglandin synthesis. It may have potential as a broad spectrum antibiotic, as demonstrated in tests against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. Chloroform extracts from dried leaves of P. pellucida have been shown to exhibit antifungal activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes in vitro. Anti-inflammatory activity (in paw edema) and analgesic activity has been demonstrated in rats and mice. Although the plant can cause asthma-like symptoms in patients with known hypersensitivity reactions to the species, no clinical data have yet been reported on human toxicity.