Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Schinus molle var. areira

Flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Woodstock, NSW

Flowering stem. Photographer Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, western NSW

Tree. Photographer Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, western NSW

Fruiting stem and bark. Photographer Don Wood, Boundary Bend, Vic

Leaves and fruit. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Woodstock, NSW

Common name

Peppercorn, Pepper Tree, Peruvian mastic tree, Pepperina

Family

Anacardiaceae

Where found

Woodland, grassy areas, roadsides, disturbed sites, and along streams. Sydney area. Western slopes. Occasionally elsewhere.

Notes

Introduced tree to 14 m tall. Fruit fleshy. Bark rough, flaky. Young stems hairy, becoming hairless, drooping. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stems, 8-25 cm long, 40–90 mm wide, with 15-41 leaflets, the leaflets 1.5-6 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, mostly hairless, margins entire, sometimes toothed, tips pointed. Male and female flowers on different plants, with some flowers bisexual. Flowers with 4-5 white or creamy petals 1.8-2.5 mm long, in drooping branched clusters. Fruit bluish pink to red, round, 3-6 mm in diameter. 

Schinus molle in Vic. Was Schinus areira in NSW.

General Biosecurity Duty all NSW.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Schinus~molle+var.~areira (accessed 14 April 2021)