Indian prickly ash | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Rutaceae |
Genus: | Zanthoxylum |
Species: | Z. rhetsa |
Binomial name | |
Zanthoxylum rhetsa | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Zanthoxylum rhetsa, commonly known as Indian prickly ash, [3] 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 rhetsa is a shrub or tree that sometimes grows to a height of 26 m (85 ft). The plant is sometimes deciduous and has stems with thick, cone-shaped spines on the older stems. The leaves are 140–230 mm (5.5–9.1 in) long and pinnate, with nine to twenty three egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets. The leaflets are 40–130 mm (1.6–5.1 in) long and 15–50 mm (0.59–1.97 in) wide, the side leaflets on petiolules 1–7 mm (0.039–0.276 in) long and the end leaflet on a petiolule 3–30 mm (0.12–1.18 in) long. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets, sometimes also in leaf axils, in panicles up to 150 mm (5.9 in) long. Each flower is on a pedicel 1.5–6 mm (0.059–0.236 in) long, the four sepals joined at the base and 0.5–1 mm (0.020–0.039 in) long and the four petals white or yellowish white and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long. Male flowers have stamens about 3 mm (0.12 in) long with a sterile carpel about 0.3 mm (0.012 in) long. Female flowers lack stamens and usually have a single carpel about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long. Flowering occurs in summer and the fruit is a spherical red or brown to black follicle 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) wide. [4] [5]
Indian prickly ash was first formally described in 1820 by William Roxburgh who gave it the name Fagara rhetsa in his book, Flora Indica. [6] [7] In 1824, de Candolle changed the name to Zanthoxylum rhetsa in his book Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis . [8] [9]
Zanthoxylum rhetsa grows in rainforest and coastal thickets from sea level to an altitude of 200 m (660 ft), and is found in India, east to the Philippines and south to northern Australia. It occurs in the northern Kimberley in Western Australia, the northern coastal areas of the Northern Territory, Cape York Peninsula in Queensland and on Gabba and Moa Islands in the Torres Strait. [4] [5] [10] [11]
The people of Goa, the Konkan and Kanara coasts, and Coorg use the woody pericarp of the tiny fruits as a spice, particularly with seafood dishes. The spice is known as "teppal" in Konkani. The spice contains a chemical ingredient, sanshool, a local anesthetic that causes a tingling sensation on the tongue. Sanshool is also the main principle of Sichuan Pepper, which comes from the related species Zanthoxylum bungeanum and the Japanese/Korean pepper Zanthoxylum piperitum. Many butterflies, including Papilio buddha and Papilio helenus , use this as a host plant. [12]
Banksia kippistiana is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has linear, pinnatifid leaves with ten to twenty lobes on each side, heads of up to eighty yellow and cream-coloured flowers, and elliptical follicles.
Sambucus gaudichaudiana, commonly known as white elderberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a perennial shrub but with stems that are produced annually with pinnate leaves that have three to eleven leaflets, small white flowers and small but edible fruit. It grows in cool forest and shady gorges.
Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum, known as thorny yellow-wood, satinwood, satin tree or scrub mulga, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It is a rainforest shrub or tree with thick, cone-shaped spines on the trunk and prickles on the branches, pinnate leaves, and male and female flowers arranged in panicles.
Zanthoxylum americanum, the common prickly-ash, common pricklyash, common prickly ash or northern prickly-ash, 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. It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 cm (5.9 in). It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters. 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. The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum.
Pentaceras australe, commonly known as bastard crow's ash, penta ash or black teak, is the only species in the genus Pentaceras in the plant family Rutaceae. It is a small to medium-sized rainforest tree endemic to eastern Australia. It has pinnate leaves with up to fifteen leaflets, small white flowers arranged in panicles on the ends of branchlets, and winged seeds.
Boronia ledifolia, commonly known as the Sydney boronia, showy boronia or ledum boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with simple or pinnate leaves which have a strong odour when crushed, and pale to bright pink flowers. Although difficult to propagate, this boronia is a popular garden plant.
Helichrysum leucopsideum, commonly known as satin everlasting, is a flowering, perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. It is grows in all states of Australia except Queensland and the Northern Territory. It has white, terminal flower heads and narrow, woolly leaves.
Philotheca myoporoides, commonly known as long-leaf wax flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with sessile, oblong to egg-shaped, glandular-warty leaves and white to pink flowers arranged singly in leaf axils. Prior to 1998 it was known as Eriostemon myoporoides.
Zanthoxylum nitidum, commonly known as shiny-leaf prickly-ash, 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.
Melicope contermina is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Lord Howe Island. It has trifoliate leaves and white flowers borne in leaf axils in panicles of nine to fifteen flowers.
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.
Zanthoxylum pinnatum, commonly known as yellow wood, is a species of flowering plant of the family Rutaceae native to Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. It is a tree with pinnate leaves, white male and female flowers arranged in groups in leaf axils, and spherical, purple follicles containing a single black seed.
Cassinia cunninghamii, commonly known as Cunninghams everlasting, is a plant native to central New South Wales in eastern Australia.
Rhadinothamnus anceps, commonly known as blister bush, is a shrub belonging to the genus of Rhadinothamnus, which is endemic to Western Australia.
Zanthoxylum ovalifolium, commonly known as thorny yellowwood, oval-leaf yellow wood or little yellowwood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. It is a shrub or tree usually with trifoliate leaves, white, male and female flowers arranged in panicles in leaf axils or on the ends of branchlets and red, purple or brown follicles.
Geijera linearifolia, commonly known as oilbush or sheepbush, is a species of shrub in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to southern Australia. It has simple linear to oblong leaves, much-branched cymes of greenish-white flowers, and fruit containing a shiny black seed.
Philotheca myoporoides subsp. myoporoides, commonly known as long-leaf wax flower, is a subspecies of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with oblong to elliptic or egg-shaped leaves and white or pink flowers arranged in groups of three to eight in leaf axils.
Styphelia coelophylla is a plant in the family Ericaceae endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and tube-shaped flowers.
Minuria leptophylla commonly known as minnie daisy, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a small perennial herb with white daisy-like flowers. It is endemic to Australia and grows in all mainland states.
Senna glutinosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to central and northern arid areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with pinnate leaves with up to seven pairs of leaflets, their shape depending on subspecies, and yellow flowers arranged in groups with ten fertile stamens in each flower.