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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Schinus terebinthifolius | Brazilian Pepper
 

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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

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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