Winter's Bark is a beautiful evergreen tree from Chile and Argentina. Growing 40 or more feet here on the coast and blooming mid spring with white flowers, the trees form an upright form with contorted branches. Not especially common, they sort of jump out at you when in bloom.
Leaves evergreen, alternate, simple, elliptical to oblong-lanceolate, entire margins, bright green above and lighter below, thick and leathery and smell of pepper if crushed.
Flowers in mid spring, white in what looks like an umbel of 15 to 30 individual 1" white fragrant flowers with a yellow center.
The yellow centers are the male parts. The anthers are attached to thicken filaments and the female bits look like swollen ovate shaped sacs that change from green to red.
Fruit is a glossy black berry, but I have never seen one.
Here is a shot of the contorted branching that you will see.
Misidentification:
Leaves are shaped somewhat like a Myoporum but nothing else is the same.
Location:
Aptos:
263 Shoreview Dr.
619 Seacliff Drive (Gone - along with almost all the trees in that neighborhood - what a shame.)