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Florida and the Brazilian Pepper Tree
"Florida Holly" or "Christmas Berry Tree"
If we  knew then what is known now, the names would not be so beautiful. Originating in Brazil and Argentina, this small tree is the scourge of wild areas where it competes for water, space, and soil. There is something insidiously wrong about its habits. Wherever it grows other plants wither and die; its foliage is so dense that light cannot reach the ground. As the pepper tree surrounds an area, plants beware; the tree retains all Geotropism (response to gravity), Phototropism (response to light), and Chemotropism (response to chemicals) for its own private use. Most living plant life eventually succumbs to the lack of nutrients and habitat as the pepper tree engulfs the area.
Is there a mutant gene that makes this plant more formidable?
Introduced in the U.S.A. in 1889 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Brazilian pepper tree (SCHINUS terebinthifolius) has a morphological structure that manipulates its environment. It defends its territory and reproduces rapidly through the persistence of its berries from one growing season into another. It can create poisonous reactions, having the ability to cause rashes on people with sensitive skin. There is a definite odor of turpentine from the tree when the berries, foliage, or stems are crushed. Its genus  name derives from the Greek word for Mastic tree, a tree used to prepare sealants or astringents from sticky fluids obtained from the crushed parts of the tree.
What wildlife eventually leaves town?
Who knows what evil lurks in the tree's genes. Perhaps the tree produces allelopathic chemicals such as a toxic resinoid that may be repulsive to other plant, insect, or animal life. Even though the tree has its own enemies such as foliage thrips and nematodes, it doesn't help the plight of crawling insects, soil inhabitants, and wild life that are pushed out of their normal life cycles when the pepper tree takes over. This has happened to thousands of acres of wetlands, pine lands, pastures, and hammocks.
The only redeeming factor is that the red berries are eaten by mockingbirds, robins, and cedar waxwings during the fruiting of the tree in winter. Viable seeds from the bird droppings produce new trees and then the process starts again for the pepper tree to control, kill native Florida plants, and re-position wild life. I am not aware of any animal that eats its foliage which leads me to believe it is repulsive to plants and animals as well.
What can be done?
| The Egmont Key State Park, as an example, is eradicating the Brazilian pepper tree on the island in ways that will not harm other native flora, wild life, or fauna. It is a difficult plant to eradicate because of its ability to effectively infringe on other areas silently and without warning. The best way to control the spread is to remove the tree and destroy all remains.
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Pictures are from Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Florida (Public Document)
Work together!Do not allow Florida to be the proving grounds for the careless invasion and spread of foreign plants
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