Which Tree Produces Pepper Berries?

True Peppercorns

• Black, white, green and red pepper berries, true peppercorns, all come from the Piper nigrum pepper vine. Differences in color, aroma and flavor are due to the timing of harvest and processing methods. Woody evergreen vines that require trees for vertical support, pepper plants can grow to 12 feet in the moist tropical understory. Finger-shaped flower spikes produce tiny individual flowers that develop into fleshy seed coats or drupes that mature into what we know, when dried, as peppercorns.

Peppercorn Tree

• The landscaping tree that produces peppercorn-like berries is the evergreen, very drought tolerant California pepper tree (Schinus molle), native to Peru and sometimes known as the Peruvian pepper tree or simply pepper or peppercorn tree. Still a street tree in Southern and Central California where it has naturalized and become an invasive plant, the California pepper tree has a somewhat weeping form and lacy compound leaves that resemble black walnut leaves. It is also found in Arizona and Texas. The California or Peruvian pepper tree is sometimes confused even in botanical literature with a related large shrub or small tree, the Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius), a very aggressive invasive wetlands species in Florida characterized as a poisonous plant by the National Gardening Association.

Pink "Peppercorns"

• In the U.S. the peppercorn or California pepper tree is a street tree or invasive species, but its aromatic fruits dry into pink, smooth textured "peppercorns" said to have a spicy, sweet, citrus-like peppery flavor. Schinus molle is cultivated for its faux peppercorn crop in tropical locales, including France's Reunion Island, off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

Controlling Invasive Pepper Trees

• Botanists and invasive plant specialists caution against planting invasive pepper-like trees. The California pepper tree, a weed tree around the globe, is so widespread and successful in Australia -- plants resprout even after devastating fire -- that it is widely mistaken there as a native plant. The Brazilian pepper tree, adapted to wet environments, has become so invasive in Florida that it has displaced entire stands of native plants in mangrove swamps along with scrub and pine forests, eliminating wildlife habitat and food sources. Aggressive eradication campaigns are now underway.