Pepper trees grow all around me. My in-laws have a beauty in their front yard. I find them out hiking. However, I have never researched if their berries are useful in cooking!
I grew up in the midwest, surrounded by oak trees. In California, the trees are still recognizably oaks, but adapted to a dryer climate, and green for most of the year. I think this may be an import as its leaves are bigger, and changing with the season.
Pepper trees are common where I live, providing bright spots of green against the barren beige of California’s winter hills. The branches are like those of willows – long, slender leaves – with the addition of beautiful, pale red peppers.