Peperomia

Peperomia is known by a variety of different names, including American rubber plant, baby rubber plant, pepper face and radiator plant. The majority of species are perennial epiphytes that grow on rotten wood.

Description
These plants vary in appearance, but most species will have fleshy leaves and stout, thick stems. The flowers are a yellow-brown colour and take the shape of a conical spike. The leaves of the peperomia are often small and rounded, tapering off to a slight tip at the end, with light-coloured veins across the surface.

Habitat
Peperomias can be found growing wild in almost every sub-tropical and tropical area of the world, including places such as Africa, South America and Central America. Because of this, they require humid conditions and temperatures of no less than 10 degrees Celsius.

Availability
Peperomias tend to bloom around spring and summer before dying back in the autumn. The flowers themselves are almost unrecognisable as they grow in soft, spike-like formations along the stems.

Species
Peperomia is one of the two genera belonging to the Piperaceae family. Within this genus there are more than 1,500 varieties of peperomia. Most of these species can be found in the Americas, but a small number are concentrated in Africa.

Care Tips
The Peperomia requires constantly moist soil conditions and both under-watering and over-watering can cause this plant to die. During the growing season, it will require a once-weekly feed of fertiliser. Because peperomias prefer humid conditions, make sure to mist your plant regularly and place the pots on pebble trays. Peperomias tend to be slow growing and thrive very well indoors, as they do not require direct sunlight. They can even survive under fluorescent lighting in offices, given the correct temperature, watering and fertiliser.

Did You Know?
One species of the Peperomia plant, known as peperomia pellucida, is commonly used as a medicine to lower cholesterol and as a cough suppressant in Central America.

References
http://www.peperomia.net/
http://www.succulent-plant.com/families/piperaceae/peperomia.html