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Schinus areira

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Anacardiaceae Genus: Schinus

California pepper tree, pepper tree

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees 5–15 m tall.

Stems: Slender drooping branches forming a spreading crown.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound (odd-pinnate). Alternate. Blades narrowly lanceolate to linear–lanceolate, 1.5–5(–7) cm long, 0.2–0.7 cm wide, leaflets in 7–20 pairs, terminal leaflet smaller than the lateral ones. Surfaces glabrous to sparsely puberulent. Margins entire to remotely serrate. Petiolate. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in terminal panicles or axillary in the uppermost leaves; pedicels and peduncles glabrous or nearly so. Flowers unisexual, dioecious. Calyx of 5 sepals; sepals deltate, ca. 0.4 mm long. Corolla of 5 petals; petals yellowish white, narrowly ovate, 1.5–2 mm long. Stamens 10, represented by staminodes in pistillate flowers. Ovary superior, 1-celled; ovule 1; styles 3; stigmas 3. Staminate flowers with pistillodes.

Fruit: Drupes lavender to pink; 6–8 mm in diameter. Seeds with an oily embryo.

Ploidy: 2n = 28; 30.

Habitat: Recently sparingly naturalized in pastures.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Only found in cultivation
O'ahu Only found in cultivation
Maui Potentially naturalizing
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Birds

Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Pumehana Imada
  • Native to South America; in Hawai‘i commonly cultivated on all of the main islands. Cultivated prior to 1871 (Hillebrand, 1888).

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 389 (1753)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:198 (EM, H [as S. molle]); Staples & Herbst 2005:106 (DESCR [as S. molle]); Zapater et al. 2018/Faccenda, Arthur, et al. 2025:153 (S. molle misapplied = S. areira)

Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, Vols. 1 and 2 (No. Edn 2). University of Hawai'i and Bishop Museum Press.

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Schinus areira Honolulu Planted along street. Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 2252 Oahu BISH 1927-12-03
2 Schinus areira Honolulu Planted along street. Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 9533 Oahu BISH 1932-01-01
3 Schinus areira Haleiwa Planted at dry sunny road. Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 11255 Oahu BISH 1922-08-17
4 Schinus areira Kilauea, E Waiakalua, Waiakalua Road (Mauka), roadside at end of road where it splits Roadside outside house to NW, probably planted. Collected as part of KISC 2007 Early Detection Roadside Survey. KISC #20070608A016. Growing with Scaevola taccada, Cordyline fruticosa, Bambusa sp., Elephantopus mollis, Morinda citrifolia, lawn grass. Preserved_Specimen Tangalin, N. 1413 Kauai BISH 2007-06-08
5 Schinus areira Makiki Preserved_Specimen Yoshinaga, E.K. Oahu BISH 1929-12-22
6 Schinus areira Honolulu Planted along street. Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 2252 Oahu BISH 1927-12-03
7 Schinus areira Colonial Hotel, Honolulu Cultivated. Preserved_Specimen Grant, M.L. 7097 Oahu BISH 1934-07-18
8 Schinus areira Koloa District: Kalaheo, yard of house on Waha Rd just E of Papalina Rd (Kloss residence, dome house) Preserved_Specimen Lorence, D.H. 8035 Kauai BISH 1997-08-05
9 Schinus areira Honolulu Cultivated. Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 11256 Oahu BISH 1929-06-01
10 Schinus areira Honolulu, Waikiki, Kapiolani Park Dry sandy soil. Preserved_Specimen Inafuku, R. Oahu BISH 1930-11-02
11 Schinus areira Kula Volunteer. Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 778 Maui BISH 1967-12-14
12 Schinus areira Nuuanu Valley Preserved_Specimen Garber, D.W. 534 Oahu BISH 1921-02-15
13 Schinus areira Honolulu, Nehoa & Makiki Sts Preserved_Specimen Weber, P.W. Oahu BISH 1945-05-01
14 Schinus areira Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Faurie, A. 288 Oahu BISH 1909-04-01
15 Schinus areira unknown Preserved_Specimen (Not on sheet) BISH
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