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Peperomia bracteata; photograph (c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-08-24

Peperomia bracteata A.W.Hill

Piperaceae · Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast +5 · listed by its genus as a tropical foliage plant

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Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY)Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Norma Piedra, some rights reserved (CC BY)Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Norma Piedra, some rights reserved (CC BY)Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Noemi Guerrero, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Noemi Guerrero, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Peperomia bracteata, photograph (c) Ricardo Betancourt Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY) 52 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
1.7°C
Record low -2.3 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
24°C
May at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
873mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
30–46DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes June to September, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Peperomia bracteata is a species of plant in the genus Peperomia. Its native range covers Mexico and Guatemala. It is a geophytic plant, storing water and reserves in an underground tuber. During dry periods parts above ground, such as leaves, will wither away but the plant will survive due to the tuber. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Peperomia bracteata", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Peperomia

Peperomia is one of the two large genera of the family Piperaceae. It is estimated that there are over 1,000 species, occurring in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world. They are concentrated in South and Central America, but may also be found in southern North America, the Caribbean islands, Africa, Oceania, and southern and eastern parts of Asia. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Peperomia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant, listed under the genus Peperomia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tuberous geophyte or epiphyte”, “seasonally dry tropical”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (654 mm of 870 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 16.5 °C against a yearly mean of 14.8 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

Rain

870 mm in the median year at the habitat, 654 mm of it June to September. Wettest month July at 182 mm, driest month December at 9 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 561 mm to 1,550 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 873 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 870 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 1.7 °C, the absolute minimum -2.3 °C, 32 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 30.3 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 4.7 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 1.0 °C to 8.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 23.5 °C in May (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 48 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +612 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Peperomia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tuberous geophyte or epiphyte”, “seasonally dry tropical”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Peperomia bracteata through the yearWarmest month May, mean daily high 24 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 4.7 °C; 870 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost30.3° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-2.3° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 30–46RH 48–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 164 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C18 / 14–2220 / 16–2422 / 18–2623 / 20–2824 / 21–2822 / 19–2721 / 18–2521 / 18–2520 / 17–2420 / 17–2419 / 16–2318 / 15–22
Night °C5 / 1–85 / 2–97 / 3–119 / 5–1210 / 7–1411 / 9–1511 / 9–1511 / 9–1511 / 9–149 / 6–137 / 4–115 / 2–9
Rain mm17 / 9–3714 / 9–2513 / 5–2326 / 8–4859 / 21–109150 / 83–290182 / 107–309166 / 96–295156 / 98–28363 / 40–11715 / 10–369 / 5–35
DLI32 / 27–3438 / 33–3944 / 40–4546 / 43–4944 / 42–5039 / 34–4437 / 33–4237 / 33–4033 / 30–3633 / 30–3632 / 28–3430 / 26–33
RH %53 / 48–5851 / 46–5648 / 43–5549 / 43–5654 / 46–6161 / 55–6764 / 59–6864 / 59–6965 / 61–7062 / 54–6656 / 49–6154 / 48–59
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 164 grid cells holding the 255 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1412:1593 (19.375, -100.325). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 164 distinct grid cells holding 255 of the 255 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1412:1593 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 19.50_-100.625, lapse-corrected +612 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 2427 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Guatemala · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker19.305, -99.21 · in the densest population, 150 records (52% of those in range)
Kew's description“tuberous geophyte or epiphyte” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 288 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 255 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 61 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 35 km away. 1 record outside the WCVP native range not used. 33 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 288 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Peperomia bracteata, photograph 1did not loadPeperomia bracteata, photograph 2did not loadPeperomia bracteata, photograph 3did not loadPeperomia bracteata, photograph 4did not loadPeperomia bracteata, photograph 5did not loadPeperomia bracteata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Norma Piedra, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Noemi Guerrero, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Ricardo Betancourt Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Salvia laevis Salvia laevis Lamiaceae Photo: CC BY, Erick Vélez SánchezPrionosciadium thapsoides Prionosciadium thapsoides Apiaceae Photo: CC BY, Carlos Muñoz-AmezcuaCrocanthemum glomeratum Crocanthemum glomeratum Clustered frostweed Photo: CC0, Sinaloa Silvestre Quercus diversifolia Fagaceae Agastache mexicana Agastache mexicana Giant Mexican Hyssop Photo: CC BY, nebrooksBuddleja cordata Buddleja cordata Scrophulariaceae Photo: CC BY, Carlos Muñoz-Amezcua

Other Peperomia 83 in the reference

Peperomia albovittata Peperomia albovittata Piperaceae Photo: CC BY, Sue CarnahanPeperomia angustata Peperomia angustata Piperaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Jalil R. Peperomia argyraea Watermelon Peperomia Peperomia arifolia Peperomia arifolia Piperaceae Photo: CC BY, Jhonatan MatheusPeperomia asperula Peperomia asperula Piperaceae Photo: CC0, Principe Mendoza BabilonPeperomia berlandieri Peperomia berlandieri Piperaceae Photo: CC BY, Cody HinchliffPeperomia bicolor Peperomia bicolor Piperaceae Photo: CC BY, Tournasol7Peperomia blanda Peperomia blanda Arid-land peperomia Photo: CC BY, Joachim BlatchlyPeperomia boivinii Peperomia boivinii Piperaceae Photo: CC0, GemenaPeperomia camptotricha Peperomia camptotricha Piperaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, James SteakleyPeperomia caperata Peperomia caperata Emerald-ripple pepper Photo: CC BY, CaracalShanPeperomia catharinae Peperomia catharinae Piperaceae Photo: CC BY, Paulo C. O. Cunha all 84 ›

Names & registers

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Piperaceae
Described by
A.W.Hill
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +4
Wild records
288 in range · 61 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 10 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (6 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 4 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 19.50_-100.625, lapse-corrected +612 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 14 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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