Kunth transferred Piper rotundifolium L. to the genus Peperomia in 1815. Linnaeus for his part had described Piper rotundifolium based on ‘Saururus repens, folio orbiculari, nummulariae facie’ a pre-Linnaean name given by Plumier in 1693 to a plant from Martinique. Plumier’s illustration is still the type (iconotype) of the current Peperomia rotundifolia (L.) Kunth.