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Senegal Prickly Ash

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides

Senegal Prickly Ash
Photo: Atamari, CC BY-SA 3.0

Senegal prickly-ash is a small to medium tree from West Africa, grown mainly for its roots and bark in traditional medicine and sometimes as an ornamental. It tolerates a range of conditions in warm, seasonally dry climates.

Family
Rutaceae (Citrus family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then let it dry out between waterings; drought tolerant once mature.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerant of poor or sandy soils.
Temperature
18–35 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
W. Trop. Africa
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides, also called Senegal prickly-ash or artar root, is a plant species in the genus Zanthoxylum.

The plant contains isomeric divanilloylquinic acids (3,4-O-divanilloylquinic acid or burkinabin A, 3,5-O-divanilloylquinic acid or burkinabin B and 4,5-O-divanilloylquinic acid or burkinabin C). Burkinabin C, a type of hydrolysable tannin can be found in the root bark of F. zanthoxyloides. It also contains fagaronine, a benzophenanthridine alkaloid.

Other Zanthoxylum plants

Fagara externa · Zanthoxylum acanthopodium · Alianthus Like Prickly Ash · Zanthoxylum albuquerquei · Common pricklyash · Winged Prickly Ash · Climbing Orange · Zanthoxylum atchoum · Zanthoxylum austrosinense · Chinese Wingleaf Prickly Ash · Satinwood · Sichuan Pepper

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides 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.

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