PlantFiles: California Pepper Tree, Mastic Tree, Peppercorn Tree, Peruvian Mastic Tree
Schinus molle

Help! My Pepper Tree's upper branches are dying off. It's an older tree (I'd guess 25 years old) and has thrived in the past. I learned from a neighbor that his three trees, over the last three years, have died. Nothing has changed in the landscape and immediate environment. I am concerned about this development as this tree provides not only beauty but privacy to my property. Can anyone help?

I have had great luck with my two year old california pepper tree. However, I do need help. I was away for two weeks and my drip system froze up on me. The calcification clogged my drip on my california pepper tree. Now it is brown and apparently dying.
CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO TO BRING IT BACK. I absolutely am heartbroken. It is about 15 feet tall now, and was beautiful. HELP.

Pepper trees provide excellent shade in the inland valleys and foothills of Southern California. In addition to benefiting from their shade in summer, my horses enjoy snacking on the leaves. I planted my first young Pepper Tree behind one of my horses' turnouts last weekend. Although the tree is only about 3 1/2 feet tall and has a very small trunk, my horse has been standing beside the tree every day... either waiting for it to grow or just to let me know that he appreciates the gesture :)

This tree was originally brought to Mexico by the spaniards from South America several hundreds years ago. Now it grows everywhere in the wild and is known by the name of "pirul". It is usually a wild tree and not grown in gardens for any reason. It has become a very important part of mexican traditional medicine, as its branches are used to "sweep" a person¨s body and thus "casting away all bad luck" and "evil eye". That is called "una barrida con pirul". It is common practice in many rural communities in today Mexico. Just thought you might find it interesting.

does anybody know how to tell the difference between this tree and the Schinus terebinthifolius? it sounds like this one is much more preferable to the other, which is apparently terribly invasive. i just don't want to end up with the wrong one. thanks!

I was absolutely dumbfounded to learn that this ( Calif. pepper, Shinus molle) is not a Calif. native plant. Could anyone elaborate on this?
It grows like a native all over the Southwest and especially in California where I live.

Native to South America. Another common name is Peruvian pepper tree.

Happy memories of this graceful tree whilst working in Bolivia (Cochabamba).

A candidate being tested here in London for potential use as a drought resisitant street/parks tree

I had a large pepper tree professionally planted when I bought my house in Joshua Tree CA in 2002, so that I could have some "instant" shade for my dog.

It is pretty but I have found that it doesn't stand up to the high winds we have here. We tried removing the tree stakes and cables earlier this year because we were tired of tripping over them. The first big wind we had nearly knocked the tree over and we had to reinstall the stakes. Some 20+ year old specimens at the local post office blew over during some similar winds last year. We have practiced slow drip watering for the life of the tree to discourage shallow rooting, but it didn't seem to help...

i bought my tree about 3 weeks ago and so far so good its a big tree so well established already i have seen these trees along the southen ca freeways and i think they are just beautiful i put it in my back yard so my 3 young boys can make a tree fort in it....a little mess is so worth its beauty and living out here in the high desert it makes for one great shade tree i dont think these trees require to much water and they can tolerate high winds that are fequent i hope this helps anyone looking to invest in one of these magistic beauties
lovin life in the high desert
laura

Have lived in Palmdale, CA (High Desert) for many years and the Schinus Molle does well in our area. Wind can be an issue, but I have several in my yard and love them. I am in the culinary industry and wonder what the proper way is to harvest and process to the pepper seeds.

I also grew up with a pepper tree in the backyard and have memories of climbing into its thick branches to dream and read. They grew everywhere around our town, Santa Maria, California, along Highway 101 before the freeway went in and the ubiquitous oleander usurped its position. In fact, in the 1940s, the trees along the highway were never trimmed, so the foliage hung down to the ground all around and people we called "tramps" would sleep beneath them in snug little rooms. Recently, Santa Maria has begun to remove those "messy" pepper trees and replace them with tidier but less picturesque models.

Several years ago I wondered if I could grow pepper trees from seeds, thinking it would be a good experiment to see if I could bonsai them. I collected some seeds from trees still growing along the old highway that goes through the old town of Nipomo (Thompson Road). I planted them in one-gallon pots in regular potting soil and several of them sprouted and grew with no trouble at all.

I'm now living on a ranch a few miles outside of Santa Maria and have planted the young trees in the ground to develop their trunks. I trim them back every few months, and they have remained healthy and vigorous through a late summer, autumn, winter and spring. I water them regularly and well and have applied nine-month, slow-release Osmocote once.

It happens that there is a marvelous specimen of the species beside our small cottage. It was there when I lived in this house in 1977-78, at which time it had a single trunk with well developed branches. We moved into the house one year ago, and today, that same tree has three huge trunks that have weighted themselves into almost horizontal positions, with long branches extending to the ground. It is quite beautiful, lacy and green, giving wonderful shade. We rake the debris into a compost heap and don't find it a problem. We use a leaf blower to clear off the shale and railroad tie patio surrounding our flower beds. Its beauty far outweighs any difficulties. And, from one arching trunk, we've hung our homemade garden bell (the cutoff top of an oxygen tank) and on quiet evening, just before the quail come in to roost at dusk, we send stirring reverberations up and down the canyon.

I would almost say that the pepper tree is my favorite . . . but of course, there is the ancient oak on the other side of the house . . . and the huge multi-trunk sycamores down by the dry creek bed.

Cheers.

This tree is so widely planted in inland Australia and does so well there that many people mistakenly think it is a native. It is a welcome source of shade,and a cool green colour in harsh conditions.

It is a messy tree, don't have hanging over your roof because it will make a ton of litter on your roof. Kills everything underneath the dripline. Stands up to high winds and is a great shade tree to sit under. The wood is brittle so far spreading branches may break off. I want to propagate some of these, seeds don't appear to grow.

As a child I grew up with cal.pepper trees in our back yard.I used to climb them and never suffered any rashes as some people predict. Disneyland in Anaheim has tons of them lining the streets and they are beautiful green color.I live in the Colorado River area between AZ. and CA. in zone 9 and purchased two of them 2 years ago and they are doing great,no mess so far.They can't be as messy as arizona Mesquites and they do not defoliate like most trees here.Also they stand up to the heavy winds that we have in the desert.

This is a pretty hardy tree here in Zone 9b... guess one zone makes all the difference. This tree is incredibly dirty- produces tons of leaves, seeds, bark etc... not a good tree to plant anything under. Funny it's called the California Pepper Tree since it's really from Brazil like all the other Schinus species. And the more obnoxious species, S teribinthefolia, is all over out here.. a real weed.

I am in Texas and have a customer looking for a California pepper tree. I am having some trouble finding it here and have found out even thought it's hardy to Zone 8 the tree will not do very well here.

I have heard pros and cons regarding California Pepper Tree berries. Some say they are poisonious, others say it can be used as Red Pepper in cooking.

There are two type of Pink/red pepper used for culinary purposes. One is a pink berry from a tree. The other is a ripe Piper Nigram, which is a vineing plant (I have often seen in Kerela, India.)