Schinus terebinthifolius
Common name
Christmas berry, Brazilian pepper tree
Family
Anacardiaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
Brief description
Evergreen bushy shrub up to 3m high. Leaves are pinnate with 9-13 subsessile (without leaf stalk) leaflets, terminal leaflet to 8 by 2.5 cm, deep shining green, entire or with fine teeth, conspicuous very pale veins and midrib. Inflorescence is a pannicle of white flowers 3-4 mm across. The fruit is a globose bright red berry 4-6 mm across.
Distribution
Scattered in Auckland also records from Northland and Waikato.
Habitat
Currently in waste areas, but a problem weed of wetland and water body margins overseas.
Detailed description
Leaves pinnate, alternate, 8 - 17 cm long. Pinnae 4-6 (11) rounded and often toothed lateral leaflets, arranged in pairs along a narrowly winged leaf axis with a single, terminal leaflet. Leaves pungent when crushed with a peppery smell. Flowers in many branched panicles, 2-11 cm long, in upper leaf axils. Dioecious flowers borne on pedicels, 1 mm long with 5 small, green, triangular sepals with ciliate margins; 5 small, white, glabrous, ovate petals; 10 stamens concentrically arranged in 2 series of 5, the outer series being longer; a lobed disc at the base of the stamens; and a single-chambered, or unilocular, ovary with 3 short styles. However, in male flowers, the ovary,or pistillode, is non-functional, and in female flowers, the staminodes are sterile. On female trees, flowering is followed by the production of bright red, fleshy, spherical drupes 5-6mm in diameter, containing a single seed.
Similar taxa
Another Schinus species, pepper tree (S. molle) is commonly grown and occasionally naturalises. It can be distinguished by the drooping branchlets and narrower leaflets
Flowering
Late summer
Flower colours
Cream, White, Yellow
Fruiting
Autumn
Life cycle
Bird and mammal dispersed seed, suckering from planted trees.
Year naturalised
1995
Origin
Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina
Reason for introduction
Ornamental tree
Control techniques
Not controlled in New Zealand.
Tolerances
Serious weed in subtropical areas, may be too cold for it to be a serious problem in NZ. Alleopathic. Casts deep shade and excludes understorey. Dane Panetta considers this species to be a major ecological weed in Australia and reccomends NZ consider it so as well (October 1996).
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Attribution
Factsheet [repared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA).
References and further reading
GISD database (http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=22)
Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand Volume 4: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.
Heenan, P.B.; de Lange, P.J.; Cameron, E.K.; Champion, P.D. (2002). Checklist of dicotyledons, gymnosperms and pteridophytes naturalised or casual in New Zealand: additional records 1999-2000. New Zealand Journal of Botany 40: 155-174.