Zanthoxylum clava-herculis

What to Eat

Edible parts: Caution, Seeds - flavouring

The following information is based on Z. americanum and is likely applicable to this species as well. The seed is used as a condiment and pepper substitute. The fruit is small — about 4–5mm in diameter — but is borne in dense clusters that make harvesting straightforward. Each fruit contains a single seed.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows on sandy soils and can be in open or shaded positions. It suits hardiness zone 6.

North America*, USA,

How to Identify

A shrub or tree. It grows 3-10 m tall. It is spiny. The bark has corky lumps 2-3 cm long. The leaves are 20-30 cm long with 7-19 leaflets along the side. Each leaflet is 4-5 cm long. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. The flowering groups are 20 cm long. Each flower is 6-8 mm across. Fruit occur in clusters. The fruit are 6 mm across and have a rough surface. Fruit contain one seed.

How to Grow

Prefers a good deep well-drained moisture retentive soil in full sun or semi-shade. Plants are hardy to at least -15°c. The leaves are often persistent until the following spring when the new leaves are produced. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. Flowers are formed on the old wood.

Propagation: Seed is best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it ripens in autumn. Stored seed may need up to 3 months of cold stratification, though scarification can also help. Sow stored seed in a cold frame as early in the year as possible; germination should occur in late spring, though it may take a further 12 months. Prick seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle, grow on in a cold frame through their first winter, then plant out in early summer. Cuttings of half-ripe wood can be taken in July or August and rooted in a frame. Root cuttings 3cm long, planted horizontally in pots in a greenhouse, give a good success rate. Suckers can be removed in late winter and planted directly into their permanent positions.

Medicinal Uses

This species is widely used in herbal medicine and shares the same properties as Z. americanum, but is considered more active. All parts of the plant, especially the bark and roots, contain the aromatic bitter oil xanthoxylin, which has numerous medicinal applications. The bark and roots are irritant, odontalgic, and antirheumatic; together with the fruit they are diaphoretic, stimulant, and useful as a tonic in debilitated conditions of the stomach and digestive organs. They stimulate arterial activity and are used in treating fevers, ague, and poor circulation. The fruits are considered more medicinally active than the bark and are also antispasmodic, carminative, diuretic, and antirheumatic. Pulverized root and bark are applied to relieve toothache — reportedly very effective, though the acrid sensation of the bark is described as nearly as unpleasant as the toothache itself. Chewing the bark provokes copious salivation. Rubbing the fruit on the skin, lips, or inside the mouth produces a temporary loss of sensation. A tea or tincture of the bark is used to treat rheumatism, dyspepsia, dysentery, and heart and kidney complaints. A tea made from the inner bark has been used for itchy skin.

Other Uses

The wood is light, soft, weak, and close-grained, weighing 31lb per cubic foot. It is too small for commercial use.

Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, the Hercules' club, Hercules-club, pepperwood, or southern prickly ash, is a spiny tree or shrub native to the southeastern United States.

Production

It grows at a medium rate.

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