Skip to main content

Botanical descriptions are combined from a number of sources, including Mahoney (1990) and Vogt (1996). S. molle is a tree up to 15 m tall, often less than 10 m, with a spreading crown comprising drooping, pendulous twigs and weeping foliage. It is evergreen and unarmed. The bark is light grey-brown to dark brown, scaly or fissured, and peels to exude a sticky latex when damaged. The trunk, although often short, may be 2Ð4 m high and 60 cm in diameter. Branches tend to be brittle and may break in strong winds. The species is generally shallow rooted. Leaves are pinnate, alternate, imparipinnate, 25 (Ð 30) cm long, with a peppery smell when crushed, 12 Ð 15 (Ð 40) pairs of leaflets, linear-lanceolate, narrow, 3 Ð 4 (Ð 6) cm long. S. molle is dioecious. Flowers are very small, green-yellow in colour, with five sepals, arranged in lax, hanging, open panicles at the ends of branches. The fruit is a berry containing a single, small, black seed, spherical and 3 Ð 5 (Ð 7) mm in diameter, similar to a black peppercorn, in a thin red (purple to rose-coloured) shell, with a strong, peppery smell and sweet peppery flavour. The fruit hangs in dense clusters of many dozen seeds, and may be persistent on the tree (Ravindran, 2017)

Related crop

  • Rosa
  • Rosa canina

Related invasive species

  • Yellows

Related Farm Practice

  • Light
Has Cabi datasheet ID
49028
Oss tagged
x

Please add some content in Animated Sidebar block region. For more information please refer to this tutorial page:

Add content in animated sidebar