Horopito

Pseudowintera colorata, also known as mountain horopito or pepperwood, is a woody evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Winteraceae, endemic to New Zealand. It is called pepperwood because its leaves have a hot taste, and it is also known as the New Zealand pepper tree, winter's bark and red horopito. Early taxonomists named it for its similarity to the South American Drimys winteri, which gave the herbal remedy winter's bark. Its yellowish-green leaves are blotched with red, and the new leaves in spring are bright red. It grows from lowland forest up to higher montane forest. It is grown as a spice, an ornamental and a traditional medicinal plant. The indigenous Māori have long used horopito both internally and externally, and as far back as 1848 it is documented for skin diseases such as ringworm, with the bruised leaves used as a poultice for chafing, wounds, bruises and cuts.