The tropical rainforest understory shrub Piper cenocladum is a member of the same genus as kava, betel, and black pepper. It is a myrmecophyte, a plant that lives in ecological mutualism with ants. This plant and three or four other closely related species are known collectively as ant plants or ant pipers. This species has broad, bright green leaves and grows in dim, swampy areas deep in the rainforest of Costa Rica and surrounding countries.