Tasmannia
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Tasmannia is a genus of woody, evergreen flowering plants of the family Winteraceae. The species of Tasmannia are native Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The Winteraceae are palaeodicots, associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the southern hemisphere. The members of the family generally have aromatic bark and leaves, and some are used to extract essential oils. The peppery-flavored fruits and leaves (esp. dried) of this genus are increasingly used as a condiment in Australia and New Zealand. The peppery flavour is derived from an essential oil called polygodial.
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[edit] Overview
The species of Tasmannia were formerly classified in genus Drimys, a related group of Winteraceae native to the Neotropic. Recent studies have led to an increasing consensus among botanists to split the genus into two, with the Neotropical species remaining in genus Drimys, and the Australasian species classified in genus Tasmannia.
In Australia, the Tasmannia genus ranges from Tasmania and eastern Victoria and New South Wales to southeastern Queensland, and in the mountains of northeastern Queensland, where it grows in moist mountain forests and in wet areas in the drier forest and along watercourses to an elevation of 1500 metres.
Tasmanian pepper or mountain pepper (T. lanceolata, often referred to as Drimys lanceolata or T. aromatica, and not to be confused with related pepperbushes such as T. stipitata or T. inspida) was the original pepperbush used by colonial Australians. It is an attractive dioecious shrub which grows to 3 meters in height in an open form, with lance-shaped dark green leaves and reddish stems.
Other Tasmannia species are also used as Australian spices, especially Tasmannia xerophila, alpine pepper, and Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo Pepper.
List of Tasmannia species and notes:
- T. axillaris ( syn. Drimys axillaris) - Pepper Tree Aromatic tree native to New Zealand.
- T. glaucifolia - Fragrant Pepperbush Reported to be high in polygodial but also contains high safrole levels which limits culinary use.
- T. insipida - Brush Pepperbush Apparently has little flavour, hence the name.
- T. lanceolata - Mountain Pepperbush One of the most common bush peppers sold commercially. Safrole free cultivars are being developed.
- T. membranea – Pepper Tree.
- T. piperita - Native to New Guinea.
- T. purpurescens - Broad Leaf Pepperbush. Contains high polygodial levels. Is a shrub or small tree, 1-3 m high and 1.5 m wide, endemic to the Gloucester Tops and Barrington Tops in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, where it grows abundantly in moist Eucalyptus forest above 1300 meters elevation.
- T. stipitata - Dorrigo Pepper. High polygodial levels. Available commercially as a spice.
- T.xerophila, Alpine or Snow Pepper. Contains the essential oil isolate myristicin and reputed to have high levels of polygodial. Available commercially as a spice.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Doust, Andrew N. and Drinnan, Andrew N., 2004. Floral development and molecular phylogeny support the generic status of Tasmannia (Winteraceae). American Journal of Botany 91: 321–331.
- Sampson, F.B., Williams, J.B. and Woodland, Poh S., The Morphology and Taxonomic Position of Tasmannia glaucifolia (Winteraceae), 1988. A New Australian Species. Australian Journal of Botany 36 (4): 395–414.
- Smith, Keith and Irene. 1999. Grow your own bushfoods. New Holland Publishers, Sydney, Australia.
- Robins, Juleigh. 1996. Wild Lime: Cooking from the bushfood garden. Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia.
- Bryant, Geoff. 2005. The Random House Enyclopedia of Australian Native Plants. Random House, Sydney, Australia.
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Flora's native plants. ABC Books, Sydney, Australia.
- Low, Tim. 1991. Wild food plants of Australia. Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney, Australia.
