34 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



from which others grew throughout California but 

 this is only a tradition. 



Pepper is a misnomer for Schinus Molle, as its re- 

 lationship is not at all with the pepper of commerce, 

 but with the sumacs, of which the members best 

 known to Easterners are the little shrubs whose 

 brilliant orange and crimson leaves add so mate- 

 rially to the glory of autumn landscapes on the At- 

 lantic seaboard. The Schinus berries are, indeed, 

 peppery to the taste and turpentiny withal, and the 

 South American Indians with the aboriginal genius 

 for turning the most unpromising material to ac- 

 count, are said to have concocted a drink by infusing 

 the berries in water and pressing out the juice, the 

 result being a wine-colored beverage the qualities 

 of which any one curious in such matters can easily 

 test. The wood is despised by most Californians 

 of to-day, but the South Americans are said to have 

 discovered the heart wood to be solid enough for 

 use as pillars, axle-trees and corner posts of dwell- 

 ings. Pepper tree leaves abound in a pungent 

 resin and it is a stock statement in books that they 

 have an entertaining way of gyrating when thrown 

 in water ; but I must confess that though I have ex- 

 perimented with them a number of times, they stay 

 as motionless as alligators for me. 



