Pepper can't grow independently, but it can climb up along other objects with its powerful climbing ability. It is 6 meters long, with round stems, swollen stems and many roots. Alternate, ovoid, leathery, with 5-7 large veins. Summer flowering, panicle, axillary, slender inflorescence drooping, with 100 yellow and white flowers. Berries are green at first, bright red when they are ripe, and the fruits are round, and each ear can bear about 50 grains. It was originally a wild spice plant, growing in the mountains on the west coast of India.
At the beginning of AD, pepper spread from India to China. At that time, it was translated into "Bibo" in Sanskrit. In the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He went to Kochi (now southwest India) and saw with his own eyes that this is a country rich in pepper, and made a vivid record: from a distance from the ship, you can see a coast full of pepper, which is lush. People here make a living by growing pepper.
In the Middle Ages, Arabs spread pepper to Europe. Because of the small quantity and high price, they have to buy gold and even circulate it as currency. At that time, when people estimated the value of a cargo ship, they always looked at how much pepper was in the cabin. Merchants even call money bags "pepper bags".
The technology of growing peppers is quite complicated. Not only should wooden stakes or cement columns be erected for the vines of pepper to climb, but it also likes to eat meat and often needs to apply some organic fertilizers, such as fish viscera, broken bones and shrimp skins. Only in this way can it blossom and bear fruit.
There are two kinds of pepper varieties: big leaf and small leaf. Big leaves have big leaves, big fruits, fast growth and few spikes, but the fruit maturity is the same. Small lobular leaves, small fruit and many spikes, but inconsistent fruit maturity and high yield.
In 1950s, the big leaf pepper was introduced to Hainan Island in China, and now it is widely planted in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places.
At present, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and other countries grow more pepper. Indonesia is the country that produces the most pepper in the world, and the Moluccas has the title of "spice island".