1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 198:
"`Native Pepper.' An excellent tonic to the mucous membrane. . . . One of the largest native creepers, the root being at times from six inches to a foot in diameter. The plant climbs like ivy to the tops of the tallest trees, and when full-grown weighs many tons, so that a good supply of the drug is readily obtainable."
<hw>Pepper-tree</hw>, <i>n</i>. The name is given to two trees, neither of which are the true pepper of commerce (<i>Piper</i>). They are—
(1) <i>Schinus molle</i>, which is a native of South America, of the Cashew family, and is largely cultivated for ornament and shade in California, and in the suburbs and public parks and gardens of all Australian towns where it has been naturalised. It is a very fast growing evergreen, with feathery leaves like a small palm or fern, drooping like a weeping willow. It flowers continuously, irrespective of season, and bears a cluster of red-berries or drupes, strongly pungent,-whence its name.
(2) The other tree is indigenous in Australia and Tasmania; it is <i>Drimys aromatica</i>, F. v. M., formerly called <i>Tasmania aromatica</i>, R. Br., <i>N.O. Magnoliaceae</i>. In New Zealand the name is applied to <i>Drimys</i> /corr./ <i>axillaris</i>, Forst. (Maori, <i>Horopito</i>; q.v.).
1830. `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 65:
"A thick grove of the pepper-shrub, <i>Tasmania fragrans</i> of Smith. It grows in a close thicket to the height of from six to ten feet. When in blossom, in the spring months of November or December, the farina of the flower is so pungent, especially if shaken about by the feet of horses or cattle, that it is necessary to hold a handkerchief to the nose in order to avoid continual sneezing."
1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 280:
"We also found the aromatic tree, <i>Tasmania aromatica</i>. . . . The leaves and bark of this tree have a hot, biting, cinnamon-like taste, on which account it is vulgarly called the pepper-tree."
1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 231: