One of the fastest growing trees I ever seen

Messages
1,779
Reaction score
2,805
Location
Canary Islands, Spain
USDA Zone
11B
This particular tree with 84cm (33 in) beleive it or not was a small seedling with only two adult leaves just 3.5-4 months ago, a Pepper tree Schinus molle freshly germinated in a garden, I always look for small seedlings before they kill them weeding, its a lot of fun growing them. I new the Pepper trees grow fast but not so damn fast it has outgrow everything in my small prebonsai garden bed.
20220907_141628_HDR.jpg20220907_141650_HDR.jpg20220907_141726_HDR.jpg
 
Yes they are a lot nicer than Alianthus!! Very resilient and drought tolerant species also, I think they are very common in California as shade trees, the leaf reduces acceptably well in pot
 
This particular tree with 84cm (33 in) beleive it or not was a small seedling with only two adult leaves just 3.5-4 months ago, a Pepper tree Schinus molle freshly germinated in a garden, I always look for small seedlings before they kill them weeding, its a lot of fun growing them. I new the Pepper trees grow fast but not so damn fast it has outgrow everything in my small prebonsai garden bed.
Non-native pepper trees (Brazillian and Peruvian pepper trees aka Schinus terebinthifolia and Schinus molle) are considered invasive species in California and you can no longer buy them at a nursery. There is no such thing as one pepper tree. You might think you own one... but you actually own 100 :) You just don't know it yet :)

By the way, Schnius genus belongs to the family Anacardiaceae - which also contains poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac. People allergic to poison ivy and poison oak may also be allergic to Schinus molle contact - particularly contact with the sap. When pruning trees, I had to be very careful to avoid contact as much as possible, wearing gloves and protective gear. It would give me a nasty rash - not quite as bad as poison oak but bad enough :)
 
Last edited:
In my experience Schinus molle is not even closely as invasive as Schinus terebinthifolius, they are extremely weedy, I guess in drier climates might be different. I never had any reaction with the sap of this species, I also prune Ficus and Figs without any protection and never had any problem with the latex but I know peolpe that have had terrible skin damage pruning Fig trees
 
Bad news guys, it seems like an evil two legged creature chopped down my beautiful pepper tree 😭 strange because the cut was made with pruning scissors or something... 😂
20220909_142352_HDR.jpg20220909_142447_HDR.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom