Brazilian Pepper Tree (Schinus terebinthifolius)

Brazilian Pepper Tree
Schinus terebinthifolius

If this doesn't show a crowding out of native vegetation, nothing will.

I was watching a show on the Everglades a while ago. It's a shame these were planted there, but that's human nature for you.

You might be thinking of malalueca (aka "punk tree"). Those were planted intentionally to "dry up" the Everglades. Foliage isn't as noticable on them as is the light colored bark. The brazilian pepper on the other hand was brought in as an ornamental and escaped. But the fact is, in many parts of the southern half of the state, natural areas look like this photo. Sort of like a dense thicket that would be very difficult to remove.

I have seen it here in south Florida (I live further south than TREEHUGR, where Brazilian Peppertree spreads the same as or even more than in Port St. Lucie) MUCH, MUCH WORSE than that. Here they cover NEARLY EVERY VACANT LOT and grow all over the place, forming widespread thickets like the photo shows, except much larger than the photo shows. The photo shows only the beginning of an invasion if not controlled. Eradication is very difficult, because even after herbicide is applied to the trunk, young seedlings start to spread, grow, and take over as well. They are also as invasive as Melaleuca or Punk Trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia) in the Everglades, forming thickets that crowd out native vegetation. This plant is as invasive as the Laurel Fig or Indian Laurel (Ficus microcarpa), another non-native, introduced, category one on the EPPC Plant List like Brazilian Peppertree here in zones 10 and below, especially from my area southward into Dade and Broward Counties, where the Laurel Fig is just as or even more invasive than in my area (the Laurel Fig (Ficus microcarpa) is also very invasive from around just south of Cape Canaveral southward through the state and the Keys). This plant should be removed from central and southern Florida and throughout it's distribution in Florida and eradicated as much as possible!

I was walking around that lot today and noticed some young seedlings sprouting up.

You could say the lot is pretty much a goner anyway. Between the Brazillian pepper and the earleaf acacia, the native vegetation is far outnumbered and doesn't stand much of a chance.

To make matters worse, a for sale sign popped up there on Friday, so it wont be long before it's totally cleared of anything alive. Welcome to Florida!!

There's a lot of plus sides to living in Fla but I guess one of the main plusses (the weather) is barbed because plants love that kind of weather too. At least here in MD, if you make a mistake with something, there's always a chance of it not surviving the winter.

Why do they entirely grind up the pepper trees and regrind them again???

Why do they or why don't they grind them?

If you meant why not, The best shot they have is to find a pest. For the malalleuca, they recently brought in some kind of animal or borer, I can't remember exactly what it was. But an insect or parasite that just attacked brazillian pepper would be a good way to get it under control. It's not a single stem either, and the roots are rediculous.