Brazilian Pepper tree: edible?

I have a very large Pepper tree- Schinus teribinthefolia. The red peppercorns are just everywhere. I have heard from several sources that they are edible and often sold in health food stores as gourmet red pepper. Other sources say they may be poisonous. The red seedcoat opens and exposes a black pepperseed just like I buy in the market. It looks like pepper. It smells like pepper. question is: Can I substitute this in my pepper grinder and eat it. I know, sounds like a dumb question but I might have a hundred years supply of pepper right here in my front yard. Comments please.

hi nadabigfarm,
I saw a program on the Fla. Panther (real wild cats) and this tree a few weeks ago on my local PBS station. I had never heard of the tree up until then. Seems like this can be a very invasive tree. The program said that "nothing can eat it", but they were talking more of wildlife, so I don't know about folks.

The tree has taken over some parts of the Fla. Everglades and has totally pushed out indigenous trees. They were implicating one of the reasons for the cats decline was due to this invasive tree(loss of habitat). They showed how the gov. was clearing acres of land where the Pepper Tree was growing, then they had to actually grind up the tree to pulp, burn it and then bury it.

I suppose this is more info than you wanted..lol.. :-)but yet not the info you needed..lol

nadabigfarm, please read through the comments on this plant's entry - very interesting reading: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/1911/index.html

wow! Terry, thanks for posting the link to the database. Sometimes I forget we have so much info within DG. I suppose I should stand corrected on the "nothing can eat it" part. I suffer from "can't remember stuff too good sometimes". I do remember now them saying that birds have spread the seed through droppings--only after reading the comments on the PDB.

Peruvian pepper tree (Schinus molle) seeds are edible. They are the so-called "pink peppercorns". The trees were brought to California by the Spanish to use as a spice. I've never tried them, but I've heard that they should be cooked. That is, you can use them in a stew, but don't sprinkle them on your salad.

As for the Brazilian pepper tree, I don't know if the seeds are edible or not, but I'd err on the side of caution and leave them alone.

Thanks Terri for the info. I am still just as confused as before. I know the S. molle - Calif Pepper tree is edible but still don't know what to do with this one. It was planted in the 60's. Probably at least 30 - 40' tall now. Every year, I get up on my roof and trim it down before the rains start in November. I have had no allergic reactions to it nor have I heard of that before. I know the roots are invasive by lifting up driveways and sidewalks. Ha, another story. However, the tree is very pretty and an excellent shade tree. The trunk is perhaps 30" in diameter with two 24'" branches. Hate to cut it down. Never knew it was a problem down south. We have several of these old trees in my neighborhood and they all look so great. Much nicer than the boring Palms that resemble telephone poles with a leaf. Anyway, hope to still find out for sure if the seeds are edible for certain. Thanks for all the informative and confusing comments.

Hey Lisa, I don't know about the birds eating them. I have alot of birds and I have alot of seeds. That just doesn't make sense. Breads crumbs and chicken feed disappear in a flash but these peppercorns are still everywhere.

Hmm... in fact, I have tried Schinus terebinthifolius a few times, and nothing happened.

The small red fruits have a thin and dry peel, and a very thin, and sweet pulp around the seed. Chewing the seeds, you will feel a weird taste, like a very soft pepper. There are people who use it as a pepper substitute on their food, and I never heard of any serious restriction to it.

But this plant is very allergenic, this is a known fact. It has a resine with a characteristic odor in its leaves, and the same scent can be sensed in the fruit taste (the thin sweet pulp part), so I guess that same substance may be present in the fruits too.

The seeds are probably toxic at some level, because birds eat the fruits, swallow the seeds, but never chew on them (besides, the plant needs the seed to be intact when it reaches the soil... turning it edible would just be a big mistake). We, as much bigger organisms, have higher tolerance to whatever is in it.

Either way, my personal experience says that people who are not succeptible to have allergies caused by this plant can eat at least some of these fruits. I can´t recomend going any further than that, though, as I don´t know what would happen.

Thank you Mono.....I have no known allergies and my stomach is made of cast iron from all the hot chile peppers I eat. I think I will dry some seeds and put it in my pepper grinder and see what happens. I will let everyone know what happens in a few weeks. I love pepper on just about everything and these crushed seeds just smell too good to pass up if they are indeed edible. It just amazes me that there is not more information about this plant. It is truely a beautiful tree. Of course it is never watered or fertilized or really taken care of. Since we only have a few months of rain in the winter months, it does not spread rampant like apparently it does in the more wet and humid areas of the South.