Draft: BICY Brazilian Pepper Management Plan

Proposed control of Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi, Anacardiaceae) in Natural and Altered Natural Areas. Brazilian pepper (aka Florida holly, pepper tree, pepper bush, pepper hedge,) is a small tree or shrub that is native to South America. Ewel (1986) indicated this plant as native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, occurring sparsely as a shrub that does not tend to dominate communities. *****(2005) however, described this plant as commonly ruderal and dominating disturbed areas in its native range, much as it does in southern Florida. This plant was introduced from Brazil into southern Florida in large numbers around the turn of the 20th century as a landscape plant, and was noted as a naturalized part of floral communities in the 1950s (Workman 1978). Brazilian pepper now occurs as a cultivar throughout much of the tropics (Barkley 1944). This plant is now a common component of mesic (intermediate between wet and dry growing conditions) biological communities in Big Cypress National Preserve, and is especially common in areas with soil disturbance. Brazilian pepper is commonly found on roadsides, canal banks, fill pads, abandoned agricultural development, and other areas with significant human interaction. Its growth is rapid, sprawling, aggressive, and competitive compared to most native plants; often it forms nearly monocultural stands, especially in areas that have been disturbed.