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Zanthoxylum simulans
Also called Sichuan Pepper, Szechuan Pepper, Chinese Prickly Ash, Large Leaflet Prickly Ash
Zanthoxylum simulans is a spreading shrub or small tree from China, Taiwan and South Korea, grown for its aromatic berries used as Sichuan pepper. It is a spiny plant that is best grown in full sun with well-drained soil.
Zanthoxylum simulans, the Chinese-pepper, Chinese prickly-ash or flatspine prickly-ash, is a flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, native to southern and central China, Taiwan, and South Korea. It is one of several species of Zanthoxylum from which Sichuan pepper is produced.
It is a spreading shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall. The leaves are 7–12.5 cm long, pinnate, with 7–11 leaflets, the leaflets 3–5 cm long and 1.5–2 cm broad. There are numerous short (3–6 mm) spines on both the stems and the leaf petioles, and large (several cm) knobs on the branches. The flowers are produced in slender cymes, each flower about 4–5 mm diameter. The 3–4 mm berry has a rough reddish brown shell that splits open to release the black seeds from inside.
Zanthoxylum acanthopodium · Alianthus Like Prickly Ash · Common pricklyash · Winged Prickly Ash · Climbing Orange · Sichuan Pepper · Hercules' club · Zanthoxylum coco · African Satinwood · Zanthoxylum laetum · Chopi · Cape Yellowwood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zanthoxylum simulans 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.
