Horopito

Pseudowintera colorata, also known as mountain horopito or pepper tree, is a species of woody evergreen flowering trees and shrubs, part of family Winteraceae. The species is endemic to New Zealand. All Winteraceae are magnoliids, associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the southern hemisphere. Pseudowintera colorata, or mountain horopito, is an evergreen shrub or small tree commonly called pepperwood because its leaves have a hot taste. It is also known as the New Zealand pepper tree, winter's bark, or red horopito. It is so named because early taxonomists recognized the similarity between horopito and the South American Drimys winteri that provided the herbal remedy "winter's bark." They are both members of the family Winteraceae, which are mainly found on the landmasses that once made up the great southern continent of Gondwana - South America, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Its yellowish-green leaves are blotched with red, with new leaves in the spring being bright red. It is distributed within lowland forests up to higher montane forests from 36° 30' South as far southward as Stewart Island/Rakiura. A characteristic plant association for P. colorata is within the Westland podocarp forests, where alliant understory plants such as Rumohra adiantiformis, Ascarina lucida, Neopanax colensoi, Raukaua edgerleyi, and Blechnum discolor are found.

Source: Wikipedia