Plants

Weirdest Plants
Amazing Plant
Feeding Off Roots
Sunlight Not Necessary
Camel's Foot Climber
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How Trees Cope with the Cold
Beautiful And Useful
Seed Power
Dreaded Flowers
A Strange Friendship
Lotus Lore
A Valley of flowers
The Delectable Durian
Red for Safety
Touch Me Not
Eco-Friendly Oil
Crazy Plant
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Velcro Plants!
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Helicopter-like Seeds
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Growing From A Bud
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Two-In-One
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Ivory Substitutes
Crying Trees
The Largest Seed
Most Expensive Spice
Passion Flowers
Daffodils Dance the Twist!
Dancing Leaves
The Tallest Flowering Tree
The Super Fruit
The White Dhup
Lighthouse of the Pampas
Exploding Leaves
The Titan Arum
Plant Guide
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Exploding Leaves

The peppertree is not related to the pepper or the chilli pepper plants. Its red berries have a strong, spicy flavour reminiscent of black pepper. The berries are dried and ground up as a pepper substitute. They are even used to adulterate black pepper in some countries.
The tree grows 4-8 metres tall and has narrow spiky leaves. It is native to South and Central America but is now grown in semi-tropical and tropical parts of the U.S.A. and Africa.
The leaves contain a large amount of oil. If the leaves are thrown into hot water, the oil escapes in jets with such force that the leaves jump and twist as if alive! Virtually all the parts of the tree are used in herbal medicines. Peppertree sap is a good purgative, diuretic and antiseptic. The oil relieves toothaches.

The leaves are brewed like tea and used to treat colds. A medicine prepared from peppertree oil was granted a U.S. patent in 1996 for use as an anti-bacterial and insect repellent.

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Last updated on :1/25/2005

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User's Comments

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jaysri: The flower is part of the beautiful nature

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