Originally described by French botanist Jean Louis Marie Poiret, it gained its current name in 1969 by A. It had been known for many years as Drimys lanceolata. It substitute for juniper berries found in Tasmania and northwards through Victoria to Barrington Tops in New South Wales.
It is found in gullies in rainforest. Polygodial has been identified as the primary active compound in Tasmannia lanceolata, and is also responsible for its peppery taste. The leaf and berry are used as a spice, typically dried. Tasmanian pepperberry was used as a colonial pepper substitute. More recently, it has become popularised as a bushfood condiment.
It can be added to curries, cheeses, and alcoholic beverages. It is exported to Japan to flavour wasabi. Used in colonial medicine as a substitute for Winter’s bark, a stomachic, it was also used for treating scurvy. The 1889 book ‘The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that common names included “Pepper Tree” and that “The drupe is used as a condiment, being a fair substitute for pepper, or rather allspice The leaves and bark also have a hot, biting, cinnamon-like taste. It can be grown as a garden plant. Its berries attract birds, including Currawongs, that feed on them. Wellington’, a compact plant with coppery new growth, and ‘Suzette’, a variegated cultivar.