Betel

or Betle, the English name of the piper betle, a shrubby plant with evergreen leaves, belonging to the typical genus of the pepperworts. It is extensively cultivated in the East Indies. Its leaf is used as a wrapper to inclose a few slices of the areca palm nut with a little shell lime. The Southern <Asiatics are perpetually chewing it to sweeten the breath, to strengthen the stomach, and, if hunger be present, to deaden its cravings.