pepper tree

American  

noun

1. any of several chiefly South American, evergreen trees belonging to the genus Schinus, of the cashew family, cultivated in subtropical regions as an ornamental.

---

pepper tree British  

noun

1. Also called: mastic tree.  any of several evergreen anacardiaceous trees of the chiefly South American genus Schinus, esp S. molle , having yellowish-white flowers and bright red ornamental fruits

---

Etymology

Origin of pepper tree

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pepper tree

As the couple watched the flames approach, a transformer blew adjacent to their home, igniting a pepper tree.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2017

I talked to Steve Aspel, the former mayor of Redondo Beach, and he made it clear no pepper tree was ever uprooted, and no tree-based revenge was ever exacted.

From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2017

Enjoy it under the pepper tree in the courtyard as the servers entertain you.

From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2014

The family, which included Raquel's younger brother and sister, lived in a one-story stucco house near the beach with a pepper tree on the neat front lawn.

From Time Magazine Archive

Before I could answer, he jumped up like a grasshopper, ran over to a small pepper tree that was a few yards away, and yanked off two branches.

From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez