Meanwhile 500m from my house..

[TheKavaSociety]

@Gourmet Hawaiian Kava , please tell me this is the real thing!

 

[TheKavaSociety]

I'm thinking Piper auritum, aka "false kava". Piper methysticum doesn't have a central vein in the leaves.

 

[kavadude]

Why so sad...were you planning to uproot it and make off with it

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Why so sad...were you planning to uproot it and make off with it

Just a tiny sample for @Deleted User and maybe one or two kg of roots

 

[greenbeen]

Just a tiny sample for @Deleted User and maybe one or two kg of roots

Honestly 7 or 8kg, but henry rounded down

 

[greenbeen]

Damn scale is old so its 6kg off....give or take

 

[TheKavaSociety]

A closer look..

 

[blindy107]

Ooooh. So close @Henry!!

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Weird, as this one is supposed to be from Samoa..

 

[kavadude]

Weird, as this one is supposed to be from Samoa..

Seems while they are native to the Americas, they have been exported to the South Pacific, and grow quite vigorously on their own unfortunately.

Piper auritum in Hawaii, South Florida and elsewhere. Piper auritum only recently has been introduced to Hawaii, where it has been distributed to kava growers as having medicinal properties. Since the potentially invasive nature of the plant quickly became apparent, the Hawaii Awa Council ([email protected]) has alerted its members to the danger and called for its eradication. In a recent newsletter, Jay Palm (QBI Tropical Division) notes that the species is invasive in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga where monocultures occur in dense close-canopied forest. Piper auritum has also been introduced to South Florida where it spreads aggressively but is not known to set fruit.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Well Henry, it looks like the real kava to me, the best way to tell if it is the false kava is to look at the base, real kava will grow from the base and the base will expand and get bigger, the false kava will send shoots from under ground and the base does not get bigger it just spreads under ground and the shoots will grow and make the plant look bigger. If I could get a picture of the base I will be able to tell you for sure. If you get me a good picture of the mature stalk then I can tell you what variety it is.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Thanks a lot, Chris! I will try to take more pictures next I am there (it grows in a little winter garden in the middle of one of Auckland's nicest parks). It's a massive plant, apx 3.5m tall.

 

[Poivrier]

It really looks like Piper auritum the leaves shape, venation, branching and another detail: the littles "scars" on the nodes.
The leaves are used in traditional cooking, there is safrole yes but like sassafras (traditional root beer) and nutmeg it shouldn't be that worrying if you eat a leaf or two.

A very nice plant ! Too bad it became invasive in the Pacific and is always confused/sold as "kava plant"