Climbers glabrous except for rachis. Young branches dark gray when dry, 1.5-2 mm thick, finely ridged. Prophylls 1-1.2 cm, apex rounded. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 6-11 × 1.5-3.8 cm, membranous, finely glandular, base ± rounded, slightly unequal, bilateral difference less than 2 mm, apex caudate-acuminate; veins 5(-7), apical pair arising 1.5-2 cm above base, next pair 2-3 mm above base; reticulate veins dark, ± flat. Flowers bisexual. Spikes leaf-opposed, slender, 0.8-1.3 cm × ca. 2 mm; peduncle 2-2.5 cm, 4-5 × as long as petioles; bracts orbicular, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, peltate, stalked. Stamens 2 or 3, shorter than bracts; anthers reniform, very small. Ovary globose, distinct; stigmas 3 or 4, very short. Unripe drupe black when dry, globose, ca. 2 mm in diam. Fl. Jun-Jul.

Type from Damiaoshan, Guangxi. Piper chinense is similar to P. damiaoshanense, but differs as follows: leaf blade broader, ovate or broadly elliptic, 4-7 cm wide, apex shortly acuminate; spikes 3-5 cm; peduncle nearly as long as petioles; bracts densely pubescent at base.

* Wet places near thickets; circa 700 m. N Guangxi