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Zanthoxylum piperitum
Also called Korean pepper, Japanese Pepper
Chopi (Zanthoxylum piperitum), also called Japanese pepper or sanshō, is a spiny, aromatic, deciduous shrub or small tree from Japan, Korea and China. Its leaves and peppercorns are used as seasonings, and it grows best in full sun with well-drained soil.
Zanthoxylum piperitum, also known as Japanese pepper or Japanese prickly-ash, is a spiny, aromatic, deciduous species of shrub or tree in the family Rutaceae native to Japan and Korea. It is known as sanshō (山椒) in Japan and chopi (초피) in Korea. Both the leaves and fruits (peppercorns) are used as aromatics and flavorings in these countries. It is closely related to the Chinese Sichuan pepper, which comes from plants of the same genus.
In Japan, Wakayama Prefecture boasts 80% of domestic production. Aridagawa, Wakayama, produces a specialty variety called budō sanshō ('grape sansho'), which bears large fruits and clusters, rather like a bunch of grapes. The thornless variety, Asakura sansho, derives its name from its place of origin, the Asakura district in the now defunct Yokacho, integrated into Yabu, Hyōgo.
Its natural range spans from Hokkaido to Kyushu in Japan, southern parts of the Korean Peninsula, and Chinese mainland.
Zanthoxylum acanthopodium · Alianthus Like Prickly Ash · Common pricklyash · Winged Prickly Ash · Climbing Orange · Sichuan Pepper · Hercules' club · Zanthoxylum coco · African Satinwood · Zanthoxylum laetum · Cape Yellowwood · Mastic Leaf Prickly Ash
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zanthoxylum piperitum 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.
