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peperomia (pep-uh-ROH-mee-uh) - n., any of numerous usually succulent tropical plants of the genus Peperomia, often grown as houseplants for their ornamental foliage and spikes of small, densely clustered flowers.
There's no common name for the whole genus, so the genus name is commonly used. Members of the pepper family, though not in the same genus -- and just to be clear, we're talking peppers as in peppercorns, not chilis (which are nightshades). Somewhat north of a thousand species known, with new ones being described every year, and found in tropical and subtropical biomes throughout the world, but most concentrated in equatorial South America. The name was coined by Spanish botanists Ruiz López and Pavón Jiménez in 1794, from Ancient Greek roots péperi, pepper + a mangled form of hómoios, similar/like.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's a week of plants. And on another admin note, posting next week may be spotty due to family obligations -- but when I do post, it'll be random access words as usual.
---L.
There's no common name for the whole genus, so the genus name is commonly used. Members of the pepper family, though not in the same genus -- and just to be clear, we're talking peppers as in peppercorns, not chilis (which are nightshades). Somewhat north of a thousand species known, with new ones being described every year, and found in tropical and subtropical biomes throughout the world, but most concentrated in equatorial South America. The name was coined by Spanish botanists Ruiz López and Pavón Jiménez in 1794, from Ancient Greek roots péperi, pepper + a mangled form of hómoios, similar/like.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's a week of plants. And on another admin note, posting next week may be spotty due to family obligations -- but when I do post, it'll be random access words as usual.
---L.
