Tasmannia lanceolata commonly known as the Mountain Pepper (Aus), or Cornish Pepper Leaf (U.K.), is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 native to woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

s and cool temperate rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 of south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The shrub varies from 2 to 10 m high. The aromatic leaves

Leaves

-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...

 are lanceolate to narrow-elliptic or oblanceolate, 4–12 cm long and 0.7–2 cm wide, with a distinctly pale undersurface. Stems are quite red in colour. The small cream or white flowers appear in summer and are followed by black globose, two-lobed berries 5–8 mm wide, which appear in autumn. There are separate male and female plants.

Originally described by French botanist Jean Louis Marie Poiret

Jean Louis Marie Poiret

Jean Louis Marie Poiret was a French clergyman, botanist and explorer.From 1785 to 1786 he was sent by Louis XVI to Algeria to study the flora...

, it gained its current name in 1969 by A.C. Smith. It had been known for many years as Drimys

Drimys

Drimys is a genus of about eight species of woody evergreen flowering plants, in the family Winteraceae. The species are native to the Neotropics, ranging from southern Mexico to the southern tip of South America...

 lanceolata.

The Tasmanian Pepperberry is found from New South Wales, from Barrington Tops southwards through to Victoria and Tasmania. It is found in gullies in rainforest.

Uses

Polygodial

Polygodial

Polygodial is an active constituent of Dorrigo Pepper, Mountain Pepper, Horopito, Canelo, Paracress and Water-pepper.Chemically it is a drimane-type sesquiterpene dialdehyde of formula C15H22O2.It elicits a warm and pungent flavour....

 has been identified as the primary active compound in Tasmannia lanceolata, and is also responsible for its peppery taste.

The leaf and berry are used as a spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

, typically dried. Mountain pepper was used as a colonial pepper substitute. More recently it has become popularised as bushfood

Bushfood

Bushfood traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, but it is a reference to any native fauna/flora that is used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes regardless of which continent or culture it originates...

 condiment. It can be added to curries, cheeses, and alcoholic beverages. It is exported to Japan to flavour wasabi

Wasabi

, also known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. Its root is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard rather than the capsaicin in a chili pepper,...

. The berries are sweet at first with a peppery aftertaste. Dried Tasmannia lanceolata berries and leaves have strong antimicrobial

Antimicrobial

An anti-microbial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes or prevent the growth of microbes...

 activity against food spoilage organisms. It also has high antioxidant

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When...

 activity. Low safrole

Safrole

Safrole, also known as shikimol, is a phenylpropene. It is a colorless or slightly yellow oily liquid. It is typically extracted from the root-bark or the fruit of sassafras plants in the form of sassafras oil , or synthesized from other related methylenedioxy...

 clonal

Cloning

Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...

 selections are grown in plantations for commercial use, as safrole is considered a low risk toxin

Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...

.

Used in colonial medicine as a substitute for Winter's bark

Drimys winteri

Drimys winteri , or Canelo, is a slender tree, growing up to 20 m tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1200 meters between latitude 32° south and Cape...

, a stomachic

Stomachic

A stomachic medicine is one that serves to tone the stomach, improving its function and increasing appetite. While many herbal remedies claim stomachic effects, modern pharmacology does not have an equivalent term for this type of action....

. It was also used for treating scurvy

Scurvy

Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...

.
Mountain Pepper is one of a number of Native Australian herbs and food species being supported by the Australian Native Food Industry Ltd which brings together producers of food species from all parts of Australia
The pepperberry can be used as a fish poison.

It can be grown as a garden plant, its berries are bird-attracting, Currawong

Currawong

Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...

s are among those who feed on them. It can be propagated from cuttings or seed, and can grow in a well-drained acidic soil with some shade, but is sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi

Phytophthora cinnamomi

Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...

.

Garden cultivars include 'Mt. Wellington', a compact plant with coppery new growth; and, 'Suzette', a variegated cultivar.