Brazilian Pepper
Schinus terebinthifolia
Found in disturbed areas, and an aggressive invader of pine savannas, hammocks, and other natural areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
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Do not plant. Listed invasive in Florida.
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 38 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Who uses this plant?
20CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Schinus
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Caloptilia rhoifoliellaSumac Leafblotch Miner Moth, Sumac Caloptilia
- Calycopis cecropsRed-Banded Hairstreak, Cecrops Hairstreak
- Chloropteryx paulariaFulsome Emerald
- Citheronia regalisRoyal Walnut Moth, Hickory Horned Devil
- Condylorrhiza vestigialisThe Alamo Moth
- Cyclophora nanariaDwarf Tawny Wave
- Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
Show all 20
- Nystalea eutalantaFlorida Prominent
- Pendantus angeliaFulvous Hairstreak
- Pleuroprucha asthenariaAsthene Wave
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Protambulyx strigilisStreaked Sphinx
- Synchlora xysterariaSinged Emerald
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Episimus transferrana
- Marmara habecki
- Paectes nana
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
6BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Schinus
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
- Ixoreus naeviusVaried Thrush
- Sialia mexicanaWestern Bluebird
- Sphyrapicus ruberRed-breasted Sapsucker
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- Florida Invasive Species Council list
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications