Tasmannia stipitata
Northern Pepperbush
Northern Pepperbush
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Basal Angiosperms > Magnoliids > Canellales > Winteraceae > Tasmannia stipitata
Other links:
Common name: Northern Pepperbush
Also, Dorrigo Pepper
Conservation status: ...
Etymology:
Flowers:
The species is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants
Fruit:
Dark bluish to mauve berries follow the flowers on female shrubs
Leaves:
Leaves are fragrant, narrow-lanceolate to narrow-elliptic, 8–13 cm long
Stem & branches:
Roots:
Habit:
A rainforest shrub
Habitat:
Temporate rainforests
Distribution:
NSW
Additional notes:
Culinary use
The culinary quality was recognized in the mid-1980s by horticulturist Peter Hardwick, who gave it the name 'Dorrigo pepper', and Jean-Paul Bruneteau, then chef at Rowntrees Restaurant, Sydney
It is mainly wild harvested from the Northern Tablelands of NSW
Dorrigo pepper has a woody-cinnamon and peppery note in the leaves and the fruit/seed
The hot peppery flavor is derived from polygodial, an essential oil component, common to most species in the family
Research
Research showed that T. stipitata has the potential to be used as an anti food spoilage and medicinal agent because of its low toxicity and moderate broad spectrum inhibitory activity against bacteria, fungi and Giardia
Sources of information: