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].

Related categories for Species: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper