Piperaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists: it's sometimes known as the "pepper family". The best known species is Piper nigrum, which yields the peppercorns used as a spice. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Piperales in the clade magnoliids. The family consists of about a dozen genera, totalling two to three thousand speci… (More on Piperaceae)