Root Beer Plant

I don’t see root beer plant, or Piper auritum, very often around Charleston, but it’s one that people should consider growing, if only for its culinary value. Known as Mexican pepperleaf to some, it has an anise flavor, and has a variety of uses. It can be used as a wrap for curing cheese, or while cooking meat or fish. It is sometimes added to mole sauce, and it can even be made into a liquor!

The white cylindrical stalks are actually flowers that bloom in the summer. They look fairly smooth, but on closer inspection, they actually have a rough texture. And until you notice a few leftover grains of pollen do you realize every one of those bumps is a flower!

Also known as hoja santa, or sacred leaf, the name alludes to a Mexican legend that the Virgin Mary dried the young Messiah’s diapers on its branches. While it’s native to Mexico and Central America, it does well here, dying back in the winter. I’ve had this mystery plant in my yard for almost a decade, and it wasn’t until now that I found out how interesting it is.