the West and of the East. Instead of 

 apple-orchards here are orange-groves; 

 instead of waving elms, the tall, close- 

 reefed eucalyptus trees; for maples, 

 round-topped umbrella trees ; and in 

 place of willows, California Peppers. 



Orange, eucalyptus and umbrella trees 

 may suffer from comparison with one's 

 earlier friends of field and forest, but 

 the Pepper Tree wins and holds one's 

 admiration. Its graceful, pendulous 

 branches, its drooping racemes of min- 

 ute, white flowers, its bright red berries, 

 its resinous fragrance, afford never-fail- 

 ing pleasure, and the mockingbirds give 

 a voice to Nature's happiness, as they 

 pour forth their melodies amid its 

 branches. 



The scientific name of the Pepper Tree 

 is Schinus molle. It is also known as 

 the Peruvian mastic tree. It is a native 

 of Mexico and of South America, but 

 it takes kindly to life in southern Cali- 

 fornia. It grows as far north as the 

 region about San Francisco Bay but it 

 thrives best in the warm, inland valleys 

 of the southern part of the state. 



With the exception of the "blue 

 gum," or Eucalyptus globulus, it is more 

 extensively planted than any other shade 

 tree. It grows rapidly, sows itself and 

 endures drought well. Hence it was an 

 especial blessing to the country in the 

 early days when shade trees were few 

 and systems of irrigation were much 

 less effective than at present. 



It branches low, like the willow, and, 

 when left to itself, sends out shoots 

 from underground stems, and feathery 

 branches from its trunk. But, Hke the 

 willow, it will endure a great deal of 

 pruning. It is often cut off several feet 

 above ground; its branchlets and twigs 

 are removed and nothing is left above 

 the soil except the trunk and the stumps 

 of branches ; yet it soon takes a new 

 lease of life and renews its youth, 

 though it never quite regains the care- 

 less, unrestrained mood that it had when 

 Nature was its only keeper. It becomes 

 trim and proper and sedate, a well- 

 bred tree for avenue and lawn, but still 

 it retains much of its natural grace and 

 all of its beauty of coloring. 



It varies in height from twenty to 

 tifty feet. Its evergreen leaves are nine 

 or ten inches in length and are abruptly 

 pinnate, with many pairs of narrow leaf- 

 lets. The juice is milky and has an 

 odor somewhat like turpentine. The 

 leaflets contain numerous resin glands, 

 and during a rain or heavy fog the 

 bursting of these sacs fills the air with 

 a balsamic fragrance. 



The trees are dioecious. They begin 

 to blossom in January or February, but 

 in California plants have all seasons for 

 their own and never need to be in a 

 hurry about putting aside their flowers 

 and maturing their fruit; and so, on the 

 same tree, at the same time, there may 

 be found the creamy blossoms, the half- 

 ripened fruit in shades of green and of 

 translucent gold, and the clusters of 

 bright red berries. 



The tree owes its name to the berries, 

 which are of the size of pepper-corns. 

 Underneath their bright covering there 

 is a pulp, sweet and oily, and at its 

 center is a hard seed. The first taste of 

 the berry is not unpleasant, but it 

 leaves in the mouth a final, pervading 

 impression, lasting and yet indescriba- 

 ble ; something like a combination of 

 turpentine, pepper and honey. Mock- 

 ing birds like the berries and chickens 

 find them palatable, but the inquisitive 

 tourist does not care to try them more 

 than once. Sometimes bees forage 

 among the flowers, but the honey made 

 from Pepper Tree sweets leaves a dis- 

 agreeable, stinging sensation in the 

 throat. 



Every plant has its enemies. One of 

 the chief foes of the Pepper Tree is the 

 black scale. This proves a menace to 

 orange trees also, and hence thousands 

 of old Pepper Trees have been cut down 

 because of their proximity to orange 

 orchards. 



There are many beautiful avenues of 

 Pepper Trees in Los Angeles and in other 

 cities and towns of southern California. 

 They offer welcome protection from the 

 intense sunshine, and, with their choirs 

 of happy songsters they afford delight 

 to every sense except to that of taste. 

 Alice M. Dowd. 



