Family: Piperaceae
An invasive shrub that aggressively spreads. Piper auritum, commonly called false kawa, is native to Mexico and Central America where it’s used in cooking. False Kawa was introduced to Hawaii in the 1990s. Some say it was mistaken for true kawa. Regardless of how it arrived on our shores, false kawa is wreaking havoc.
False kawa earned its common name due to the striking resemblance to Piper methysticum, kawa. They share similar construction (habit) and leaf shape. Venation is one difference; false kawa has pinnate veins (they come off the middle rib) while true kawa has a palmate vein pattern (they originate from a single point at the base of the leaf and radiate out). Lastly, when crushed, false kawa has a Ben-gay or an anise kind of smell.
False kawa was called “the fastest-growing foliage plant” by The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants. It grows twice as fast as kawa. Germination studies have shown 96% viability. Contamination on machinery, tools, cars, etc can go unnoticed due to the small seed size.
False kawa spreads by wandering underground rhizomes, vegetatively (rooting along stem nodes), by root suckers, and by seed. Where planted, it quickly takes over the garden. It forms dense thickets that shade out and prevent the regeneration of other more desirable species. Mechanical eradication is difficult. Any piece of vegetative material (roots) left in the ground will grow into a new plant.
Description and Dispersal:
- A single stemmed shrub growing up to 19 feet tall
- Ben-gay or root beer smell when leaves are crushed
- Leaf veins come off the midrib (pinnate venation)
- Often has prop roots
- Reproduces by vegetative fragments, root suckers, and seeds
