Tasmannia lanceolata (Poir.) A.C.Sm.

Tasmannia lanceolata is a plant of many qualities. It can add zest to a garden, or kick to a cocktail; its dense foliage can fashion a hedge, and the antioxidants in its berries can shore up your health. Long in cultivation as an ornamental, in recent times it has begun to be grown commercially as a cash crop in Australia.

The two Tasmannia species described by de Candolle (1817) were both cultivated in Britain by 1840. The tender Tasmannia insipida R.Br ex DC. (under its synonym T. dipetala) was introduced from New South Wales in 1824 (Sweet 1826), presumably from the batch of material dispatched that year by William Baxter to Mackay’s nursery at Clapton, which specialised in Australian plants (Sweet 1827–1828). Disregarding the anomalous unsubstantiated date of 1820 given in Don’s General History (1831), the first record of T. lanceolata in cultivation is Loudon’s announcement in the Gardener’s Magazine in November 1840 (p. 590) that ‘a Tasmannia, from Mount Wellington, in the green-house [at Kew] […] may be expected in a few years in nurserymen’s lists of hardy shrubs.’ The exact origin of this plant is unclear. In March 1843 the collector Ronald Gunn sent Joseph Hooker further live plants of T. lanceolata in a Wardian case, from his expedition up the Franklin River (Burns & Skemp 1961). This was almost certainly the material seen by Lindley (1845), who examined ‘flowers taken off one of Mr Gunn’s specimens,’ and probably also the basis for William Hart Baxter’s dating of the species’ introduction to 1843 in his Supplement to Loudon’s Hortus Britannicus (Baxter 1850). Lindley’s accompanying illustration of a plant donated to the Horticultural Society by Hugh Low, Mackay’s successor at Clapton, suggests that Joseph Hooker shared the material (he was to develop a friendship with Low in later years). Over the following decades, the species was planted at many country estates and arboreta around the British Isles, particularly (but by no means exclusively) in the milder southwest. Harold Comber introduced further material into Britain and Ireland from his 1929–30 expedition to Tasmania, some given to Nymans, where it proved ‘quite hardy’ (Bean 1976). In a lecture delivered to the Royal Horticultural Society in July 1931, Comber included Tasmannia lanceolata (as Drimys aromatica) in a group of prominent examples of ‘showy shrubs’ that colonial settlers had introduced to cultivation in England (Comber 1932). More recently, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has accessioned numerous T. lanceolata specimens since 1953, including ten wild-collected plants (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2023). In Australia, the species has been brought into commercial cultivation for culinary use (berries), and for the extraction of the sesquiterpene polygodial, the source of the plant’s characteristic peppery flavour, and an antifungal and antibacterial (Sultanbawa 2016).

Originally introduced as a glasshouse plant, views on Tasmannia lanceolata’s hardiness have waxed and waned. Bean’s opinion, expressed unchanged between his first (1914) and seventh edition (1950) editions, was that it was a ‘tender evergreen suitable only for Cornwall and similar places,’ but the plant’s capacity to weather short bursts of surprisingly cold temperatures has repeatedly prompted growers to revise their assessment, only to disappoint them by later succumbing in more prolonged spells of frost. Tasmannia is, in fact, well adapted to repeated short, reasonably severe freeze-thaw cycles through its exclusive reliance on tracheids for water transport. In Tasmania it occurs as an abundant shrub on rock scree slopes well above the Eucalyptus and Nothofagus tree lines, and it colonizes open fields on the central basalt plateau, which has frequent frost in winter (Feild, Zwieniecki & Holbrook 2000). Studies by Sakai et al. (1981) demonstrated that the freezing resistance of T. lanceolata was greater than most co-occurring angiosperms that have vessels. Loss of vessels in Winteraceae appears to offer a selective advantage in southern hemisphere climates typified by rapid-cycling freeze-thaw cycles, where nocturnal freezes are regularly followed by warm days. On the other hand, since plants can therefore often grow year-round in such conditions, they tend not to be adapted to freezing soil temperatures (Feild & Brodribb 2001). Losses of Tasmannia lanceolata in European cold winters probably result from dehydration due to frozen soil at root depth, especially when combined with higher air temperatures that cause evapotranspiration. Careful site selection is recommended in colder regions, e.g. providing shelter from cool, drying winds (Bean 1976) or favouring south-facing hillsides in Oregon (Joy Creek Nursery 2025). It has not proved hardy enough to survive the challenging climatic conditions at Arboretum de la Bergerette in south central France, though its demise may have been due in part to neglect (S. Haddock pers. comm. 2024).

Tasmannia lanceolata is mostly thought of as a shrub, but with some judicious pruning and patience it can form a fine small tree for the garden. The UK and Ireland champion, growing at Colonsay House at Argyll and Bute in Scotland, measured 8 m × 25 cm in 2012; five other contenders on The Tree Register reach 5 m or more (The Tree Register 2025). It is a versatile plant that can gracefully inhabit a large container, or be used to establish a hedge as at Tregothnan in Cornwall and Nether Cerne Farm in Dorset (Williams 2024, T. Hudson pers. comm. 2024). Sean Hogan (2008) extols its handsome, pyramidal shape, dark green foliage, and deep red stems, which make it attractive both in close-up and in a wider view. He recommends it as ‘a color echo to gardens with maroon foliage, and a perfect vertical accent when an exclamation point is required rather than a towering tree’. Further ornamental interest is provided by the copper-tinted young growth and the pink buds prior to flowering (Edwards & Marshall 2019). It is widely cultivated and commercially available in the UK, Europe, and the United States, as well as in its native Australia. Male and female plants behave differently and have contrasting assets: choose male for flowers and female for the spicy fruit. As Tasmanian botanist Sib Corbett put it: ‘The male is … all show and no performance. The female is a drab little hen, but she produces the berries’ (Gardening Australia 2007).

Occurring in a range of habitats and altitudes, T. lanceolata exhibits considerable variation (Vink 1970), especially in leaf morphology and secondary metabolism (Deans et al. 2019). Insofar as such traits potentially represent adaptive responses to environmental factors, such variation is obviously of great horticultural interest (see cultivars below).

T. lanceolata is susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi in Australia, manifesting in root rot, leaf curl and chlorosis, wilting, shoot dieback, cankers, and necrosis, though resistant phenotypes have been identified (Sinhalagoda et al. 2023). Honey fungus has killed mature specimens in Britain (Burncoose Nurseries 2025). Its reputation for favouring ‘rich soils’ originates with Gunn (who encountered it in ‘umbrageous ravines’ (Lindley 1845)), but once again, the range of natural habitats, from damp forest to mountain top, indicates a rather broader range of acceptable soil types, dependent always on sufficient moisture. In mild, wet districts T. lanceolata will make large plants, particularly in sheltered woodland settings.

The flowers are pollinated by insects, especially flies (Wilson et al. 2019), and distributed by birds. McMillan-Browse (2024) reported the following protocol for seed propagation, after removal of the tissue surrounding the seed, which appears to inhibit germination: 28 days warm stratification (20˚C), followed by 56 days chill (3˚C), then 18–20˚C until germination. For vegetative propagation, semi-mature/mature cuttings are recommended (Thompson 2005). However, Gardiner (2002) reported reasonable success with soft tip cuttings, IBA dip (3g/L), a peat/perline/polystyrene mix and bottom heat (effectively a woody tropical protocol). Seed production is dependent on the presence of male and female plants, but when both are present abundant fruit can be produced, making an attractive display. The introduction of a specimen of ‘Red Spice’ to Ray Wood at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, where there had previously only been one female clone, resulted in the mass production of seedlings in the cool shady understory of this woodland garden, suggesting that in some conditions it could become invasive (J. Grimshaw pers. comm. 2025).

The plant’s culinary attractions may outstrip its ornamental ones. In Australia it has been traditionally used in Aboriginal cuisine and was adopted by early European settlers as a substitute for pepper. Though it did not seduce Brown, who described it as ‘highly aromatic but accompanied with an exceedingly bitter and pungent taste,’ it became established as a commercial crop in Australia in the 1980s following international interest from Japan, where it is now used as an ingredient in some wasabi pastes (Druce 2013, Moore 2000). It plays an important role in the ‘bush tucker’ movement that promotes the use of native plants and animals in Australian cuisine, including cocktails, such as the Tasmanian martini flavoured with pepperberry syrup (Fruitsinfo.com 2025). The leaves are also aromatic, milder than the berries, with a slightly cinnamon-like earth taste, and can be used dried as a spice or fresh in salads (CHEFIN 2025, Jungle Leaves 2024, Hogan 2008). The peppery taste of the leaf has been found to numb the tongue, so that everything tasted after it has a strong sweet taste, making it difficult, for example, to tell whether sugar has been added to a cup of tea (Bancroft 2018).

It also has significant medicinal properties. Aborigines used it for the treatment and cure of skin disorders, venereal diseases, colic, and stomach ache. European settlers found it to be a good treatment for scurvy. Recent studies have determined it is a good source of antioxidants, significantly superior to blueberries (Cock 2013).

Three cultivars are available commercially and are described below. A form introduced by Harold Comber at Nymans, UK, is described by Bean (1976) as having a dense, broadly columnar habit and leaves to about 4.5 cm long, but it appears not to have been propagated or distributed.