BRAZILIAN PEPPER TREES
GONE WILD
A narrow gravel road beyond town led a few
kilometers down a descending valley with a modest stream flowing in its bed. Brazilian
Pepper Trees had spread from town down the valley and they were in flower. In the Mexican
uplands you can't miss this species because it's planted abundantly as street trees and
often escapes into natural areas. Leaves and flowers are shown below:
Brazilian Pepper Trees are SCHINUS MOLLE and belong to the same family as do Poison Ivy
and the sumacs, the Anacardiaceae, usually known as the Cashew Family. If you think about
it, sumacs have pinnately compound leaves like the pepper tree's in the picture, and dense
clusters of pale, tiny flowers as well. BB to pea-size, rose-colored fruits develop from
the flowers. The tree's drooping, limber branch-tips and feathery leaves are distinctive.
The leaves are aromatic when crushed. Male flowers occur on one tree, female on another
(plants are dioecious). |