Piper methysticum G. Forst.

vernacular kava — species · Piperaceae

USDA: PIME
GBIF: 4187154 syn.
Rank: species

kava (Piper methysticum) — Platephotograph · Kim-Ly Ngea source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Piperaceae Giseke
Genus: Piper

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 4 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 60–250 in/yr
pH range: 3.5–7.3
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: High

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 3 ft
Height @ 20 y: 12 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Flower colour: Yellow
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: Moderate

§3d

Reproduction

Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 17,085,650
Propagation: cuttings, corm, sprigs, tubers

§3e

Use & availability

Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Hawaii view state ↗ 4 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PIME ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/4187154 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T16:37:38Z