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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
ABBREVIATION :
SCHTER
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
SCTE
COMMON NAMES :
Brazilian pepper
Christmas-berry
Florida holly
aroeira
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for Brazilian pepper is Schinus
terebinthifolius Raddi [34]. There are no recognized subspecies,
varieties, or forms.
LIFE FORM :
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Milo Coladonato, October 1992
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo. 1992. Schinus terebinthifolius. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Brazilian pepper is indigenous to the coast of tropical Brazil. It has
been introduced to several countries in South America, parts of Central
America, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the west Indies. In the continental
United States, Brazilian pepper is naturalized on a significant scale
only in southern Florida. Brazilian pepper has also been introduced in
Hawaii, California, and Texas [15,25].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
STATES :
CA FL HI TX
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
BICY BISC EVER HALE HAVO VIIS
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K079 Palmetto prairie
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K091 Cypress savanna
K092 Everglades
K105 Mangrove
K112 Southern mixed forest
K115 Sand pine scrub
K116 Subtropical pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
72 Southern scrub oak
74 Cabbage palmetto
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
100 Pondcypress
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
The wood of Brazilian pepper is used in construction, as stakes, posts,
and railway sleepers. The twigs are also made into toothpicks [3,22].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
The fruit of Brazilian pepper is readily eaten by wildlife, but the seed
pass through the digestive tract unharmed [32]. The unripe fruit if
ingested can be fatal to horses, and the ripe fruit causes intoxication
in birds if eaten in large quantities [3].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Because of its fast growth and ability to quickly invade disturbed
sites, Brazilian pepper can be planted for erosion control on deforested
sites. However, it is not recommended for this use because of its
deleterious effects on native plant and animal species [6].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Brazilian pepper serves as a source of tannin, and the resinous extracts
are used to preserve fishing nets. It is grown as an ornamental in
Brazil. Medicinal uses include a remedy for gout, arthitic pain, and
diarrhea [2,3]. The juice of the macerated roots is used as an ointment
for ganglionic tumors and contusions [22]. In Hawaii, the bright red
berries are used in making Christmas wreaths; hence the name Christmas-
berry [33]. Brazilian pepper has been planted as an ornamental in
Florida and Hawaii but is no longer recommended for this use [21].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Among the negative effects of the steady expansion of Brazilian pepper
in south Florida is the elimination of native plant species and sources
of food for native wildlife. Originally planted as an ornamental it has
spread across hundreds of square kilometers and become a formidable
competitor for water and mineral resources [5,17]. Brazilian pepper
also produces an allelopathic chemical in its leaves that suppresses the
growth of other plants [22,26]. In Hawaii, Brazilian pepper is having a
harmful impact on many endangered and threatened species, including the
Haleakala silverword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense spp. macrocephalum),
liliwai (Acaena exigua), and the mahoe tree (Alectryon macrococcus)
[30].
The most effective method of controlling Brazilian pepper is to fetter
out individuals that colonize naturally occuring gaps and by burning
pine forest regularly, although this method will not eliminate Brazilian
pepper from the site [10].
The methods and effectiveness of various herbicide treatments of Brazilian
pepper have been outlined [8,17].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Brazilian pepper is a thicket-forming, medium-sized large shrub or small
exotic tree to 40 feet (12 m) high. Its short trunk is about 3 feet (1
m) thick, usually hidden by a dense head of contorted intertwining
branches, drooping at the tips, and heavily clothed with evergreen
pinnate foliage. The oblong or elliptical leaves have 3 to 13 sessile,
resinous leaflets about 1 to 2 inches (2.5-5 cm) long. The white
flowers are five-petaled and are borne on the axils of the leaflets
along the outer 3 feet (1 m) of the branches and at the branch tips.
Some specimens bear only male flowers. The fruit is a red, resinous
one-seeded berry [22].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Brazilian pepper's primary mode of reproduction is sexual. It produces
an abundance of large seeds, particularly after fire or mechanical
disturbance. The seeds are dispersed by many mammals and birds
including mockingbirds, cedar waxwings, and especially migrating robins
[10,22]. Bazilian pepper also has the ability to sprout from
adventitious buds on its roots or shoots [13,17].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Brazilian pepper grows on a broad range of sites in South Florida,
ranging from mangroves to pinelands. It thrives on disturbed soils and
in newly created habitats resulting from drainage and farming. It
grows best on well-drained wastelands and abandoned oldfields [4,10].
Some common associates of Brazilian pepper not listed in SAF include
buttonbush (Cephalanthas occidentalis), water ash (Fraxinus carolina),
water hickory (Carya acquatica), hackberry (Celtis laevigata), redbay
(Persea borbonia), melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia), cabbage palmetto
(Sabal palmetto), southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera), saw palmetto
(Sereroa repens), swamp bay (Persea palustris), Australian pine
(Casuarina equisetifolia), and coco plum (Chrysobalanus icaco)
[9,11,19,24,31].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Obligate Initial Community Species
Brazilian pepper is an early invader of disturbed sites [1,28]. Its
behavior is analogous to a "sit-and-wait predator", becoming established
in the understory of dense forests, then capturing the site when gaps
occur in the canopy [10]. Brazilian pepper has a relatively high
tolerance for shade. The seedlings appear to be barely surviving in
dense shade but will quickly respond to altered environmental
conditions. Brazilian pepper is a potential canopy tree in almost any
forest in South Florida [10,20].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Brazilian pepper flowers synchronously in October and is pollinated by
a native syrphid fly. Its fruit ripens in December through February and
its leaves are produced throughout the year [10,13].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Brazilian pepper forms dense thickets that fire rarely penetrates. It
produces new leaves throughtout the year and because its litter
decomposes quickly, very little leaf litter builds up on the forest
floor. The high moisture content of the leaves and wood also make it
difficult to burn. When Brazilian pepper does burn (as it frequently
does when it colonizes open pinelands), the aboveground parts are
killed, but the the tree promptly sprouts from the base [10]. Brazilian
pepper is also able to reestablish after fire from seed dispersed from
adjacent sites or stored on-site in the seed bank [7,27].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/root sucker
Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire effects on Brazilian pepper are related to the size of the
seedling, amount of available fuel around the plant, and fire severity.
Smaller, recently established plants are severly retarded in growth or
killed from moderate and severe fires. Larger plants are only
top-killed or do not burn at all due to the fact that the fires are not
always able to penetrate the dense thickets [6].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Brazilian pepper is able to regenerate after fire by sprouting from the
root or root collar resulting in more stem production than was the case
prior to the burn [17].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Although fire will kill some Brazilian pepper seedlings, it is not
recommended as an effective control of this species once it has formed
dense thickets. In fact, hedgerows of Brazilian pepper are often used
as fire breaks [32]. Even repeated burnings will not prevent the
invasion of Brazilian pepper into large disturbed areas [6].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
REFERENCES :
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Index
Related categories for Species: Schinus terebinthifolius
| Brazilian Pepper
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