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Root Beer

​Common Name: Root Beer Plant, Hoja Santa, or Mexican Pepperleaf
Botanical Name: Piper Auritum
Blooms: Has a rat-tail like cylindrical green spike with
                white-green sessile flowers
Foliage:  Evergreen in tropics; freezes back here but
                comes back each year
Height:  Up 10 feet
Width:   3 feet +
Light:  Partial Shade to full shade
Water: Needs regular irrigation to produce the most luxuriant foliage
 
Propagation:  Root division (underground rhizomes) or seed
 
Note: A herbaceous perennial native to Mexico; cold hardy in USDA zones 10-11; root hardy in zones 8-9.  Use in a tropical landscape.  Very large heart shaped leaves.  Some consider it invasive.  Most portions of the plant smells strongly of root beer; utilize leaves for root beer flavoring in various dishes or use as wrap for meats and fish.