Tasmannia stipitata

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

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:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmannia_stipitata (2023)