Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Tasmannia insipida

Male flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Female flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Fruit and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Common name

Brush pepperbush, Dorrigo pepper, Scrub pepperbush

Family

Winteraceae

Where found

In or near rainforest, and wet gullies. Coast, ranges, and the mountainous parts of the tablelands, north of Narooma.

Notes

Shrub or tree to 5 m high. Fruit fleshy. Stems hairless. Leaves without a distinctive scent when rubbed, but with a peppery taste. Leaves alternating up the stems, whorled, or clustered, 4–20 cm long, 13–55 mm wide, bases usually auriculate, surfaces hairless, green and glossy, tips gradually tapering to a point. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers white to cream or yellowish, with 2-4 petals, each 5–13 mm long. Flowers in clusters of 1-16 flowers. Flowering: August–November. Fruit usually purplish, sometimes whitish mottled with red, more or less oval, about 12–20 mm long.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Tasmannia~insipida (accessed 9 February, 2021)