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Zanthoxylum americanum
Also called Prickly ash, Northern Prickly-ash, Toothache Tree, Toothachetree, Common prickly-ash, American prickly-ash, Common Pricky Ash
Common pricklyash is an aromatic native shrub or small tree of central and eastern North America, reaching about 10 m, grown mainly for its interest and wildlife value. It is hardy and tolerant of a range of conditions, and its prickly stems and bitter-aromatic leaves make it easy to recognise.
Zanthoxylum americanum, the common prickly-ash, common pricklyash, common prickly ash or northern prickly-ash (also sometimes called toothache tree, yellow wood, or suterberry), is an aromatic shrub or small tree native to central and eastern portions of the United States and Canada. It is the northernmost New World species in the citrus family, Rutaceae, and is the type species in its genus, which includes sichuan pepper. It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 cm (5.9 in). It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters. The wood is not commercially valuable, but oil extracts from the bark have been used in traditional and alternative medicine and have been studied for antifungal and cytotoxic properties. The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.
Rare in the South, it is more common in the northern United States. In the United States, it occurs in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia; the species also occurs in Ontario and Quebec in Canada. The species is listed as Endangered in Florida, Maryland, and New Hampshire; and as Special Concern in Tennessee.
Zanthoxylum acanthopodium · Alianthus Like Prickly Ash · Winged Prickly Ash · Climbing Orange · Sichuan Pepper · Hercules' club · Zanthoxylum coco · African Satinwood · Zanthoxylum laetum · Chopi · Cape Yellowwood · Mastic Leaf Prickly Ash
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zanthoxylum americanum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
