Monk’s pepper is native to the entire Mediterranean region to western Asia and even northwest India; the main suppliers are Albania and Morocco. The plant grows preferentially in coastal areas and on the banks of rivers and streams. Monk’s pepper is also grown as an ornamental plant.
It is the ripe, dried fruits that are used as a drug.
Monk’s pepper: special characteristics
Monk’s pepper is a deciduous shrub that grows up to 6 m tall. The branches are light brown and covered with felt-like hairs when young. The leaves resemble a hand with 5-7 lanceolate fingers up to 10 cm long.
The small flowers can be purple, pink, blue or rarely colored white; they are usually terminal and densely clustered in the form of spike-like inflorescences with small four-seeded drupes.
Stone fruits as a medicine
The ripe and dried drupes are brownish/reddish-black to olive-black in color. They are elongated to globular in shape, and the diameter is usually between 3 and 5 mm.
The fruits are usually two-thirds cup-shaped enclosed by the lighter, hairy calyx remnants. In some cases, the fruiting pedicel, about 1 mm long, is still present.
Odor and taste of monk’s pepper.
Monk’s pepper exudes an aromatic, sage-like odor. In taste, monk pepper is quite similar to normal pepper, tasting spicy hot.
