Zanthoxylum americanum

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Zanthoxylum americanum
Zanthoxylum americanum.jpg
Zanthoxylum americanum at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Species:
Z. americanum
Binomial name
Zanthoxylum americanum
Zanthoxylum americanum range map.png
Natural range
Synonyms
  • Mioptrila odorata Raf.
  • Thylax fraxineum (Willd.) Raf.
  • Zanthoxylum americanum f. armatius F.C.Gates
  • Zanthoxylum clava-herculis var. americanum Du Roi
  • Zanthoxylum fraxineum Willd.
  • Zanthoxylum fraxinifolium Marshall
  • Zanthoxylum mite Willd.
  • Zanthoxylum parvum Shinners
  • Zanthoxylum ramiflorum Michx.

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. [2] It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 cm (5.9 in). [3] It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters. [3] 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. [3] The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.

Contents

Alternative names and taxonomy

Zanthoxylum parvum, known vernacularly as Shinners' tickletongue and small prickly-ash is considered by some botanists to be an isolated and aberrant population of Zanthoxylum americanum.

Originally described by Scottish botanist Philip Miller in 1768, [4] Zanthoxylum americanum is type species of the wide-ranging genus Zanthoxylum in the plant family Rutaceae, which includes many species with aromatic foliage. Miller, who spelled the name Xanthoxylum, described the plant in the eighth edition of his Gardeners Dictionary , as "grow[ing] naturally in Pensylvania[ sic ] and Maryland". [5]

Description

The plant has pinnately compound leaves with 5–11 membranous leaflets. It has axillary flower and fruit clusters. [3] The buds are hairy. The dark green leaves are bitter-aromatic, with crenate margins. [3] [6] The stalked follicles are green and then turn red [6] through deep blue through black. [3] [7] Flowers are dioecious, with yellow-green petals. [8]

Flowers appear as umbrella-like clusters from 2–12 in small terminal to axillary umbellate clusters. They are imperfect with pedicels 2–4 m long; there are 4–5 petals, elliptic to ovate-oblong 1.6–1.9 mm long and have green with reddish hairs near the tips; stamens 5; ovary with 2–5 carpels. The fruit is a follicle, with 2 seeds per carpel.

Distribution and conservation status

Zanthoxylum americanum berries Zanthoxylum americanum - USDA.jpg
Zanthoxylum americanum berries

Rare in the South, it is more common in the northern United States. [3] 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. [9] The species is listed as Endangered in Florida, Maryland, and New Hampshire; and as Special Concern in Tennessee. [9]

Butterflies that use Zanthoxylum americanum as a larval food source include the Thoas swallowtail (Papilio thoas), giant swallowtail (P. cresphontes), and spicebush swallowtail (P. troilus). [6]

This plant was known to the indigenous peoples of the region. It was first described to Europeans by John Bartram in his travels and plant collecting excursions.[ citation needed ]

Zanthoxylum parvum

Habitat

Underlies of maple-oak woodlands or dense growth of small trees like evergreen oak on rocky, often shallow, well-drained, tuff or other igneous rock, at elevations of 1,350–1,750 metres (4,430–5,740 ft).

The understory is primarily native bunchgrasses with a mix of other cacti and herbaceous species. In shaded dense areas, the ground is sparsely inhabited with vegetation but covered with dense leaf litter.

Phenology

Zanthoxylum parvum flowers in late March until early April, before its leaves have expanded fully. Although foliage is present throughout most of the year it eventually becomes deciduous and turns yellow in mid-October.

Comments

Zanthoxylum parvum is a rare and poorly understood plant from a few populations in the Davis Mountains

Medicinal use

Seedling drawing Common pricklyash.jpg
Seedling drawing

Traditional

An oil extracted from the bark and follicles of the prickly-ash (both this species and Zanthoxylum clava-herculis ) has been used in herbal medicine. [3] [7] The extract may act as a stimulant, and historic medicinal use has included use "for chronic rheumatism, typhoid and skin diseases and impurity of the blood..." as well as for digestive ailments. [7] Grieve states, "The berries are considered even more active than the bark, being carminative and antispasmodic, and are used as an aperient and for dyspepsia and indigestion; a fluid extract of the berries being given in doses of 10 to 30 drops." [7] The bark has been chewed for toothaches, and a tea from the follicles has been used for sore throats and as a diuretic. [10] As noted by Michael Dirr, in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, "Supposedly the stems and fruits were chewed by the Indians to alleviate toothache for the acrid juice has a numbing effect." [11]

Modern studies and uses

There have been some modern studies of the oil's chemical constituents and their antifungal [12] and cytotoxic effects. [13] [14]

In 2012, a Pennsylvania distillery introduced a bitters called Bartram's Bitters that uses prickly ash bark as one of several botanical ingredients. The concoction was based on a recipe for "Bartram's Homestead Bitters" that was found in a book that belonged to the family of botanist John Bartram. [15]

Images

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Sassafras</i> Genus of trees

Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus is distinguished by its aromatic properties, which have made the tree useful to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitters</span> Alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter

A bitters is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now are sold as digestifs, sometimes with herbal properties, and as cocktail flavorings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canellaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red.

<i>Aralia spinosa</i> Species of tree

Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil's walking stick, is a woody species of plant in the genus Aralia, family Araliaceae, native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles, and even leaf midribs. It has also been known as Angelica-tree.

<i>Zanthoxylum</i> Family of shrubs and trees

Zanthoxylum is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae in the subfamily Rutoideae. Several of the species have yellow heartwood, to which their generic name alludes. Several species are cultivated for their use as spices, notably including Sichuan pepper.

<i>Zanthoxylum clava-herculis</i> Species of tree

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. It grows to 10–17 m tall and has distinctive spined thick, corky lumps 2–3 cm long on the bark. The leaves are glabrous and leathery, pinnately compound, 20–30 cm long with 7-19 leaflets, each leaflet 4–5 cm long. The flowers are dioecious, in panicles up to 20 cm long, each flower small, 6–8 mm diameter, with 3-5 white petals. The fruit is a two-valved capsule 6 mm diameter with a rough surface, and containing several small black seeds. The tree has also been called Z. macrophyllum. The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.

<i>Cinnamomum burmanni</i> Species of flowering plant

Cinnamomum burmanni, also known as Indonesian cinnamon, Padang cassia, Batavia cassia, or korintje, is one of several plants in the genus Cinnamomum whose bark is sold as the spice cinnamon. It is an evergreen tree native to southeast Asia.

<i>Zanthoxylum fagara</i> Species of tree

Zanthoxylum fagara or wild lime, is a species of flowering plant that—despite its name—is not part of the genus Citrus with real limes and other fruit, but is a close cousin in the larger citrus family, Rutaceae. It is more closely related to Sichuan pepper. It is native to southern Florida and Texas in the United States, and to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Paraguay. Common names include: lime prickly-ash, wild lime, colima, uña de gato, and corriosa.

<i>Acronychia pedunculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Acronychia pedunculata is a large shrub or small tree of the understory, gaps and fringes of low country and lower hill tropical forests of tropical Asia.

Toothache tree may refer to one of several American trees:

<i>Zanthoxylum armatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Zanthoxylum armatum, also called winged prickly ash or rattan pepper in English, is a species of plant in the family Rutaceae. It is an aromatic, deciduous, spiny shrub growing to 3.5 metres (11 ft) in height, endemic from Pakistan across to Southeast Asia and up to Korea and Japan. It is one of the sources of the spice Sichuan pepper, and also used in folk medicine, essential oil production and as an ornamental garden plant.

<i>Zanthoxylum piperitum</i> Species of plant

Zanthoxylum piperitum, also known as Japanese pepper or Japanese prickly-ash is a deciduous aromatic spiny shrub or small tree of the citrus and rue family Rutaceae, native to Japan and Korea.

<i>Zanthoxylum spinosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Zanthoxylum spinosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae known by the common name Biscayne prickly-ash. It is native to the West Caribbean, including South Florida and the Florida Keys, Cuba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Hispaniola.

<i>Zanthoxylum rhoifolium</i> Species of tree

Zanthoxylum rhoifolium is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae known by the common names mamica de cadela, tambataru, and prickly ash. It is native to South America. It is a common tree on the Cerrado.

<i>Zanthoxylum nitidum</i> Species of flowering plant

Zanthoxylum nitidum, commonly known as shiny-leaf prickly-ash, tez-mui or liang mian zhen, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. It is a woody climber with prickles on the branchlets, thick, cone-shaped spines on the trunk and older branches, pinnate leaves with five to nine leaflets, and panicles or racemes of white to pale yellow, male or female flowers in leaf axils and on the ends of branchlets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sichuan pepper</span> Chinese spice

Sichuan pepper, also known as Szechuan pepper, Szechwan pepper, Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Mountain pepper, and mala pepper, is a spice commonly used in Sichuan cuisine in China, and in Nepal and north east India. Despite its name, Sichuan pepper is not closely related to black pepper or chili peppers. It is made from plants of the genus Zanthoxylum in the family Rutaceae, which includes citrus and rue.

<i>Zanthoxylum rhetsa</i> Species of flowering plant

Zanthoxylum rhetsa, commonly known as Indian prickly ash, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and occurs from India east to the Philippines and south to northern Australia. It is a deciduous shrub or tree with cone-shaped spines on the stems, pinnate leaves with between nine and twenty-three leaflets, panicles of white or yellowish, male and female flowers, followed by spherical red, brown or black follicles.

Zanthoxylum martinicense, the Martinique prickly ash, white pricklyash, or espino rubial, is an evergreen tree with pinnately compound leaves and thick conical spines on its bark. It grows up to 20 m tall. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. The flower clusters (panicles) are terminal and much branched, bearing many almost stalkless flowers.

<i>Sterculia setigera</i> Species of deciduous tree

Sterculia setigera is a deciduous tree species within the Malvaceae family. It commonly occurs in the Sahelo-Sudan and Guinea savannah zones of Tropical Africa. Among the Hausa people it is known as Kukkuki. It is an important tree crop in Senegal as Gum karaya obtained from the woody species is exported from the country.

Zanthoxylum laetum is a species of woody plant from the Rutaceae family.

References

  1. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).; IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2018). "Zanthoxylum americanum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T135956405A135956407. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T135956405A135956407.en . Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  2. "Zanthoxylum americanum" (PDF) (range map). U.S. Geological Survey.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Duncan, Wilbur H.; Duncan, Marion B. (1988). Trees of the Southeastern United States . Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press. pp.  76–77. ISBN   0-8203-1469-2.
  4. "Zanthoxylum americanum". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  5. Miller, Philip (1768). The Gardeners Dictionary: Containing the Best and Newest Methods of Cultivating and Improving The Kitchen, Fruit, Flower Garden, and Nursery; As also for Performing The Practical Parts of Agriculture: Including the Management of Vineyards, With The Methods of Making and Preserving Wine, According to the present Practice of The most skilful Vignerons in the several Wine Countries in Europe. Together With Directions for Propagating and Improving, From Real Practice and Experience, All Sorts of Timber Trees (Eighth ed.). London: Printed for the Author.
  6. 1 2 3 "NPIN: Zanthoxylum americanum (Common pricklyash)" . Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Grieve, Mrs. M. (1996) [1973]. Leyel, Mrs. C. F. (ed.). A Modern Herbal. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. pp. 70–71. ISBN   0-88029-921-5.
  8. Brown, Claud L.; Kirkman, L. Katherine (1990). Trees of Georgia and Adjacent States. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 163–164. ISBN   0-88192-148-3.
  9. 1 2 "PLANTS profile for Zanthoxylum americanum Mill. (common pricklyash)". Natural Resources Conservation Service . United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  10. Foster, Steven; Duke, James A. (1990). A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America . The Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp.  238. ISBN   0-395-35309-2.
  11. Dirr, Michael A. (2009). Manual of woody landscape plants : their identification, ornamental characteristics, culture, propagation and uses (6th ed., Rev. ed.). Champaign, Illinois: Stipes Publishing. ISBN   978-1588748683.
  12. Bafiyeboa, N. (May 2005). "Antifungal constituents of Northern prickly ash, Mill". Phytomedicine. 12 (5): 370–377. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2003.12.005. PMID   15957372.
  13. Ju, Yong; Still, Cecil C.; Sacalis, John N.; Li, Jiangang; Ho, Chi-Tang (July 30, 2001). "Cytotoxic coumarins and lignans from extracts of the northern prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum)". Phytotherapy Research . John Wiley & Sons. 15 (5): 441–443. doi:10.1002/ptr.686. PMID   11507740. S2CID   26958006 . Retrieved July 3, 2009.[ dead link ]
  14. Saqib, Q. N.; Hui, Y.-H.; Anderson, J. E.; McLaughlin, J. L. (January 11, 2006). "Bioactive furanocoumarins from the berries of Zanthoxylum americanum". Phytotherapy Research. John Wiley & Sons. 4 (6): 216–219. doi:10.1002/ptr.2650040604. S2CID   84567279. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  15. Nichols, Rick (May 25, 2012). "The resurrection of Bartram's Bitters". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 23, 2021.