Schinus molle Peruvian pepper tree

Gnarled trunks, drooping branchlets of pinnate leaves, and clusters of pink drupes distinguish pepper tree, Schinus molle, this one north of the Bookstore. Sairus Patel, 19 Nov 2017

Schinus molle leaf silhouette. From Trees of Stanford and Environs by Ronald Bracewell

This charismatic tree was first introduced to California in 1830, when seed from Peru, carried north by a sailor, was planted at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in Oceanside by the mission padres. It has so thoroughly established itself as a Californian icon that its misleading “California pepper tree” monicker continues to be used (though it does self-sow in parts of the state). Its spreading crown of graceful, drooping pinnate leaves bears clusters of small cream flowers that develop into round, pinkish-red, peppercorn-like fruits, which, together with those of S. terebinthifolia, comprise the colorful drupes in peppercorn blends. Trunks often divide low into multiple stems and develop fantastical burls that lend a most charming aspect to these trees.

Planted on campus since Stanford’s earliest years, propagated by University gardener Thomas Douglas in 1890, groups of old pepper trees can still be found in the Arboretum. A small burial ground for the early university was once set aside northeast of the Mausoleum, among a grove of pepper trees, and was known as God’s Acre. The remains were later moved to Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto in 1914, but a group of peppers still stands near the original site, just off the south corner of 401 Quarry Road.

Schinus comes from the Greek name for the mastic tree of the Mediterranean, Pistacia lentiscus, which this genus resembles in its resinous juice. The Peruvian pepper tree secretes a fragrant resin known as American mastic, long valued for its therapeutic applications. Molle derives from a Peruvian (Quechua) word for the tree.

Among campus’s most frequently encountered standalone specimens are a two-trunked tree southeast of the Raikes Building, near Canfield Court, and one in a circular island on Galvez Mall at the northeast corner of Green Library. Another is on the east side of Windhover. Older trees are scattered east of Palm Drive, between Arboretum Road and Campus Drive, while younger plantings along Stanford Avenue south of Bowdoin Street are replacements for trees lost during a major psyllid outbreak. Others grow on Raimundo Way north of Stanford Avenue.