Mountain pepper

← Back to the app

Litsea cubeba

Mountain pepper, a reference photo
Photo: LiChieh Pan / Flickr user: plj.johnny ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/plj/ ) · CC BY 2.0 (licence)

Litsea cubeba is a species of evergreen tree in the family Lauraceae. It is a shrub that grows up to 5–12 meters high. It is sometimes referred to by the common names the aromatic litsea, may chang, mountain pepper (山胡椒; pinyin: shānhújiāo), mujiangzi (木姜子; pinyin: mùjiāngzǐ) or douchijiang (豆豉姜; pinyin: dòuchǐjiāng) in Mandarin and maqaw (馬告) by the Atayal of Taiwan. It produces a fruit which is processed for its lemony essential oil. The oil can also be extracted from the leaf, but this is considered to be lower in quality. The timber is sometimes used for making furniture and crafts. Plant parts are also used in medicine.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is it poisonous?

We have no record of Mountain pepper being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.

Easily confused with

Classification

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Laurales
Family
Lauraceae
Genus
Litsea
Species
Litsea cubeba

Found one? Take a photo and B.inomen will suggest what it is, free.

Check your photo

More species