ABSTRACT
Native Pepper, also referred to as Tasmanian or Mountain Pepper, is one of the more popular native Australian food ingredients to have appeared on the culinary horizon in the last 20 years. At present, most of the world supply is derived from unmanaged stands of self-regenerated plants, which are scattered through the landscape, many on private land or forestry concessions and are subject to all the natural variables of the wild environment. In terms of microclimate, it is usual to find the plant on relatively well-drained soils, and not in permanently wet or waterlogged soils as they are susceptible to root rots and other soil-borne diseases. At the present time, most of the commercially traded pepper berry fruits and leaves are sourced from stands of naturally established trees on private land in Victoria and Tasmania and on leased public land in Tasmania.
