Brazilian Peppers

[bubba]

Brazilian Peppers are on the same list as Maleleucas in Florida.I am not sure how they got to Florida but I have seen them flourishing as far North as beyond Ormond Beach.Does anyone else have these wild things?

[Eric in Orlando]

I think they were introduced decades and decades ago as an ornamental. Often they were called "Florida holly" or "Brazilian holly" because of the red, holly like berries and cut branches lasted a long time in arrangements and decorations. Then the birds discovered the edible berries and <presto> it was spread over the peninsula.

It is a pest here though a stand alone tree is a pretty thang. It is also a good tree for growing epiphytes on. Beofre the 1989 freeze, BPs were common as yard trees but not many wild ones around here. A neighbor down the street from my mom had a really cool, leaning specimen that arched over their driveway and front patio, like a giant bonsai. They had attached orchids and bromeliads to it and it was just very nice. The 89 freeze killed them all to the ground and since the early 90s, they have become very weedy and come up everywhere now. We have been fighting them on our lakefront, they sprout along the seawalls and can grow totally in water

Now I'm not advocating planting BP but maybe they are filling a niche in FL. Since so much natural areas are being destroyed and habitat for wildlife is shrinking, maybe these are helping some animals survive. The berries are a major food source for migrating birds, one of the main ways they are spread. The flowers are good for pollinating bees (but makes bad honey for humans). Where they make thick stands, it is good nesting and roosting spots for birds and for refuge. It also then hosts a large number of smaller creatures like lizards, tree frogs, snakes, insects, etc. Though mangroves are a much preferred choice, around waterways, BPs also help prevent erosion, filter water, and provide refuge for wading birds. The trees will hang all the way to the waters edge so also provide shelter for smaller fish, crabs, etc. BP's grow in wet or dry habitat and have no pests to worry about other than severe freezes. In urban areas or disturbed areas where no natural habitat remains, BPs can grow where nothing else does with no water chemicals, or fertilizer. They respirate and produce oxygen like any other green plant. As more of FL is destroyed and paved over, BP's might be the last hope for wildlife.

Native plant people would probably burn me at the stake but I'm just looking at the reality of the situation. They are so entrenched in wild areas they will never be eliminated and are here to stay unless a new disease or insect pest kills them off but that can present a whole new set of problems. Especially since BP is in the same family as mangoes. Something along that line is happening now. A borer was accidentally introduced into the US a few years ago and began attacking and wiping out Persea borbonia, native Redbay Trees. It has spread into FL and is now attacking another tree in the same family (Lauraceae), Persea americana, Avocado. Not good news for the Homestead growers.

[fastfeat]

As a relative newcomer to Florida, I really wonder how much different the natural landscape must have been since the introduction/spread of Brazilian pepper (and to a lesser extent, Melaleuca, Casuarina, Albizia lebbeck etc.) I'm sure that there are black and white pics available, but does anyone here have good firsthand memories or stories? Just wonderin'...

[PalmatierMeg]

Down here Brazilian pepper is considered a Class A, public enemy exotic. One of the reasons I have been working at a migitation bank for 15 years is BP, along with melaleuca and Australian pines. The State wants them eradicated everywhere. They crowd out native plants and animals. Evil, evil, evil (if a plant can be called so).

[palmmermaid]

As a relative newcomer to Florida, I really wonder how much different the natural landscape must have been since the introduction/spread of Brazilian pepper (and to a lesser extent, Melaleuca, Casuarina, Albizia lebbeck etc.) I'm sure that there are black and white pics available, but does anyone here have good firsthand memories or stories? Just wonderin'...

You can look at some of the pictures from the National Botanic Garden publication from the early part of the 20th century. It was certainly a different landscape. Royals grew profusely as did the native pines that were used to build the houses in the area. The Miami River had a cascade in it. The old timers took their boats out to the springs in the ocean to fill up their water jugs.

I grew up in the panhandle where it was still pretty much the same in many places. Old growth pine flatwoods where fires occurred on a regular basis to keep the undergrowth out. Stands of sabals. Clones of saw palmettos that took up most of an acre. Springs that bubbled up and rushed down the runs to the rivers. Springs in the middle of rivers. Old growth cypress stands. Red cedar groves. Not much of this left any more. Pine uplands are some of the most endangered areas in the state because they are the most desireable building sites.

[palmmermaid]

We spend time every month eradicating it from our yard, along with australian pine and melaleuca. And I've found air potato recently. I did use all exotics to make a holiday arrangement outside - brazilian pepper, melaleuca, australian pine. It looked really nice.

[JungleGina]

I'll second the EVIL, EVIL, EVIL classification. I've been fighting BP for 5 years on my property. The former owner gave up and simply put up a fence so he wouldn't have to look at them. Meanwhile, my property extends another 30 feet back behind the fence (larger than some people's entire yards!) and was so thick with BPs that you couldn't get through anywhere. I started off by hacking at it with loppers and it grew back as fast as I could lop it. Then I graduated to a chainsaw. Then I found someone with a backhoe to help clear the area. There's still quite a bit to remove but I've begun planting tropical bamboo back there since its first few years are spent developing the root system anyways. This stuff will surely be the death of me. I have some huge maleleuca trees too but they don't seem to be nearly as aggressive as BP so they're safe for now. I hope to turn those into mulch one day.

[popper1]

The tree was 1st introduced into Florida in the mid to late 1800s, as Eric said, as an ornamental. It was also brought to Hawaii, there were several weed trees in my yard there. It is also a problem in Texas, Arizonia, & California.

[gsn]

Add me to the EVIL category.

I have absolutely nothing even remotely GOOD to say about Brazilan pepper trees. When they say INVASIVE they were talking about this plant!! just sayin!

Kudzu is the only thing I can think of here in Central Florida that might be worse!

Edited December 30, 2008 by gsn

[MattyB]

I think they're great if used correctly. They sure are drought tolerant and survive here in SoCal with no irrigation. Here's a grove of them naturally occurning in the bottom of my canyon. Multiple trees and root suckers mesh together to make a very dense canopy. We've thought of making a haunted trail down there for Halloween. It's spooky scary!

[Al in Kona]

Brazilian Pepper, usually called 'Christmas Berry' in Hawaii has spread thru-out the Big Island to the point that it has become a major tree now growing wild in West Hawaii. Maybe someone from East Hawaii can tell us just how invasive it is there. Most of them were removed from our property when the lot was bulldozed (cleared) before building and we began to landscape, some 15 years ago. Still a few would come up occasionally from old roots or seed. I then saw them off at ground level and immediately paint the newly cut area with undiluted 'Roundup' (herbacide). Found that to be quite effective in killing them. Sometimes I do the same with wild guava, Spathodea and bougainvillea.

[gsn]

Matty add 50+ inches of rain a year to the equation, and then get back to me!

Edited December 30, 2008 by gsn

[DoomsDave]

My house came with a number of them, and all but one have been removed.

But, as MattyB points out, they are pretty, just not as pretty as - - - Palms!

They have that marvelous crevassed bark, and I can sure see why someone would want to use one to hang orchids on. No problem with freezes here.

And, they smell just like pepper after it rains, and the seeds can be used as peppercorns. Pepper up the wazoo . . . .

They're also supposed to be a highly valued tropical hardwood, which, if true, should make them a bit less evil. . . . .

[SunnyFl]

Now I'm not advocating planting BP but maybe they are filling a niche in FL. Since so much natural areas are being destroyed and habitat for wildlife is shrinking, maybe these are helping some animals survive...

Native plant people would probably burn me at the stake but I'm just looking at the reality of the situation...

Sorry, Eric, but yeah, they would. However, you are onto something when you talk about filling a niche. Maybe not so much with the BP (I, too, classify it as evil), but there are plants disparaged as "exotics" that could have important roles to play. For instance, Jatropha. A different species from Integerrima, but it is showing great promise as a source of biofuel. And speaking of bees, which you mentioned, they're not picky as to whether they visit native or exotic plants. I have seen a swarm of bees around whenever our roeb flowers - it's great. I see them flock to the Jatropha at work as well, along with a number of other "exotics."

You mention the shrinking of the native habitats. Along with the constance pace of development, there's also the problem of a changing climate. It does seem drier here than it used to be, and the densely populated areas have caused heat islands where none used to be. Some natives have a bad time coping with that. If we allowed the introduction of NON-invasive (using the term correctly) exotics, we could - as you pointed out - increase the nesting areas and food sources of wildlife. And if we'd resist the trend of restricting species, we'd run less risk of a pest (such as the pine borer, or Texas decline) wiping out whole areas. Nature is actually a proponent of diversification - as seen by the spread of BP berries, tickseed and so on. The biological imperative - spread the species far and wide.

Back to BP - yes I've had the fun of hacking at them, digging up the runners, applying Brush-B-Gone, and hacking again until I finally got rid of it. But frankly, I think Air Potato is even worse! It climbed up a neighbor's tree, ran up into the power lines where we can't get at it, traveled down the lines till it got to our remaining oak tree and exploded all over. The other next door neighbor's back yard is covered by it and they don't care. So I have a steady supply of it to keep pulling.... and pulling.... and pulling Sorry to hear you have Air Potato, Palmmermaid - that stuff is Baaad.

[bubba]

I did additional research and found the Brazilian Pepper has migrated in Florida all the way to Santa Rosa County,which is panhandle.It is also widely grown in Southern California,Southern Texas,Southern Arizona and Southern Louisiana.It does not have the invasive quality that it has in Florida in these regions.I am certain it could present a difficult problem in Hawaii,especially in areas of high rainfall.

It seems to be analogous to Maleuca, which does not become invasive in So.Cal. but is a nice specimen.One interesting contrast is the fact that Maleuca,indigineous to Australia, has virtually taken over large parts of the Florida Everglades.At the same time, a Florida native known as the Pond Apple that surrounded Lake Okeechobee and was decimated by the Maleuca, is now an invasive in Australia.

By the same token, but for the wreck of the Spanish brig,Providencia,in 1878 off Palm Beach and the 20,000 Jamaican Tall Coconuts that it was carrying that washed up on shore and took root,Henry Flagler may not have been smitten with those beautiful palms that caused him to extend the railroad South.Those Jamaicans,of course, could qualify as non-indiginous potential invasives, like numerous other exotics we wish for!

[_Keith]

I think they're great if used correctly. They sure are drought tolerant and survive here in SoCal with no irrigation. Here's a grove of them naturally occurning in the bottom of my canyon. Multiple trees and root suckers mesh together to make a very dense canopy. We've thought of making a haunted trail down there for Halloween. It's spooky scary!

Those palms down through the canyon look awesome. Were they planted, or are they naturalized volunteers.

[fastfeat]

Water is the chief difference between Brazilian pepper and Melaleuca quinquenervia being weeds versus well-behaved trees. There simply isn't enough for either species to become much of a pest in CA. (Warmer temps and birds transporting seeds are also factors).

Both species are used as street trees in SoCal, though BP is less desirable and is infrequently planted today. It occasionally volunteers, but is generally not considered invasive. In CA, it typically makes single-trunked trees, with trunks to 3'/1m in diameter. The brushy thickets, common in FL, are rare in CA.

Melaleuca quinquenervia is considered a quality street tree for milder parts of CA; it grows more compactly on drier soils there and does not volunteer. Frost is the limiting factor in its use in CA.

[mppalms]

I have one in my front yard that I keep meaning to take out. It ate my sewer line a couple of years ago, costing nearly 20k including the work in the street. I'm taunting it now with a new one that its roots can't possibly penetrate!

Jason

[BigFrond]

Brazillian pepper tree and most eucalyptus sp. are best dress with a big chain saw.

[PalmatierMeg]

Melaleuca is botanical cancer here in FL. It was introduced to FL partly because it is a water hog and back when wetlands were still swamps, people thought it a good thing melaleuca dried up all the swamps. It grows so thickly it crowds out virtually everything but mosquitoes. A melaleuca forest is eerie to walk through, dead and silent except for those @#$%^&* peeling trunks and gray leaves. When we first started our mitigation bank on Little Pine Island there were no birds or other native animals - melaleuca left them no habitat. It blooms 3-4 times/year, is a potent allergen (I'm highly allergic to it). The only way to eradicate it is to cut it down, chip it to mulch and send to sugar processors to burn. If you cut down a melaleuca, it will drop its seeds. If it is burned in a brush fire, it drops it seeds. If you do not paint the newly cut stump with herbicide, i.e. garlon etc., the stump sprouts multiple trunks. A nasty, vile, dirty tree that deserves utter oblivion.

The good news here is that after the last exotic was removed 2 years ago, Little Pine Island is awash with birds: herons, egrets, ibises, wood storks, raptors, also bobcat, alligators and other reptiles. Now if we could only rid it of feral hogs.

Don't get me started on Australian pines and hurricane winds.

[Eric in Orlando]

Its a shame melaleuca is such a pest tree, its a really attractive looking tree. They used to be common until the'89 freeze wiped many of them out up here. They never were a pest in Orlando, just in yards. There used to be a huge one in my mom's backyaed but it was killed in '89, still a small one in the front but neither ever produce seedlings. back in the mid 80s when I was in high school I helped take care of a yard that had a dozen huge melaleuca but never once found a seedling. It must just get cold enough up here so that it doesn't become a pest. I still se some in yards tthat have recovered and grown back but never any wild stands. 100 miles south and it is a weed. It grows so thick it even crowds out Brazilian Pepper!

We grow another Melaleuca species that is behaved and nice, M. alternifolia, the Tea Oil Tree. Nice small tree with the white bottlebrush flowers and white flaky bark. Also are growing M. linariifolia which is very similar.

[Eric in Orlando]

Its a shame melaleuca is such a pest tree, its a really attractive looking tree. They used to be common until the'89 freeze wiped many of them out up here. They never were a pest in Orlando, just in yards. There used to be a huge one in my mom's backyaed but it was killed in '89, still a small one in the front but neither ever produce seedlings. back in the mid 80s when I was in high school I helped take care of a yard that had a dozen huge melaleuca but never once found a seedling. It must just get cold enough up here so that it doesn't become a pest. I still se some in yards tthat have recovered and grown back but never any wild stands. 100 miles south and it is a weed. It grows so thick it even crowds out Brazilian Pepper!

We grow another Melaleuca species that is behaved and nice, M. alternifolia, the Tea Oil Tree. Nice small tree with the white bottlebrush flowers and white flaky bark. Also are growing M. linariifolia which is very similar.

[Eric in Orlando]

I think a worse invasive is about to serously infect FL, Skunkvine, Paederia foetida (Rubiaceae). It has been around here for about 10 years and has become the worst invasive here in the last 5 years. Its 100x worse than air potato and cats claw vine. It will grow anywhere; sun or dark shade, wet or dry and is cold hardy to zone 7 so it will spread north of FL. It will infest any habitat from wetlands and swamps to dry sandhills. It is fast spreading and birds spread the berries so they come up everywhere. The worst is in the middle of a shrub or mass of planrs. The vine sprouts and is established before you know it. At ground level in sprouts and sends runners out in all directions. They will creep along the ground and root in every few inches so when you pull it it breaks and the rooted piece will continue to grow and infest. It will crawl along the ground indefintely or will find some thing to climb and shoots skyward. It can easily grow upwards dozens of feet in a season. It grows so thick it can quickly smother vegetation. It is very difficult to eradicate. Once it gets entrenched in a certain area, the berries continually sprout so the battle never ends. It is resistatnt to herbicides and the roots get anchored in so an older vine is a chore to uproots. And if you don't get all the rooted in side shoots it comes right back. It also tolerates mowing and will creep thru a lawn.

Besides the inasive properties, this vine smells, as the common name gives away. Wen you cut the vine or damage the foliage it has a rank smell but it can also stink on its own, especially on a hot and humid summer evening after a good rain. I wondered who in the hell thought this would make a good ornamental but came across info that it was introduced into FL near Brooksville over 100 years ago as a possible source of fiber. Since then it has been spreading. This is our kudzu since kudzu really isn't found south of Gainesville. It is native from India to south eastern Asia, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. and has established in some other southeastern states and is a serious pest in Hawaii and some other locations. Consider yourself lucky if you don't have this menace. We could hire a full time skull vine eradication position at Leu Gardens and there would be enough work for the job.

there is another species in Dade Co., Paederia cruddasiana. Hate to see what it smells like.