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Zanthoxylum americanum

Common name:	Prickly Ash	Family:	Rutaceae
Author:	Mill.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Zanthoxylum fraxineum (Willd.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Quebec to Florida, west to Minnesota and Oklahoma.
Habitat:	Found on upland rocky hillsides and on moist low-lying sites, in open woods, on bluffs or in thickets[229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Xanthoxylum americanum[H] Xanthoxylum carolinianum[H] Xanthoxylum fraxineum[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ache Tree [E], Angelica Tree Of America [H], Common Pricklyash [P], Northern Prickly Ash [L], Prickly Ash [H,E], Suterberry [H], Toothache Tree [H], Toothache-tree [L], Toothachetree [B], Yellow Wood [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	canum = grayed due to hairs;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Sapindales. Rue family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mexico; Us; Us(Amerindian); Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 4m by 4m . It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The scented flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Condiment.

Seed - cooked. It is used as a condiment. A pepper substitute[106]. The fruit is rather small, about 4 - 5m in diameter[229], but is produced in dense clusters which makes harvesting easy[K]. Each fruit contains a single seed[229].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anodyne; Antirheumatic; Antispasmodic; Carminative; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Irritant; Odontalgic; Sialagogue; Skin; Stimulant.

Prickly ash is a warming, stimulating herb that is beneficial for the circulation. It was highly regarded by the native North American Indians who used it especially to alleviate rheumatism and toothache[254]. All parts of the plant, but especially the bark and roots, contain the aromatic bitter oil xanthoxylin[229]. This has a number of applications in medicine, especially in the treatment of arthritic and rheumatic conditions, digestive problems and leg ulcers[229, 254]. The fruit has a similar medicinal action to the bark[4].
The bark and roots are irritant, odontalgic and antirheumatic[213]. Along with the fruit they are diaphoretic, stimulant and a useful tonic in debilitated conditions of the stomach and digestive organs[4]. They produce arterial excitement and are of use in the treatment of fevers, ague, poor circulation etc[4].
The fruits are considered more active than the bark, they are also antispasmodic, carminative, diuretic and antirheumatic[4, 213, 222].
The pulverized root and bark are used to ease the pain of toothache[213, 222]. One report says that it is very efficacious, but the sensation of the acrid bark is fully as unpleasant as the toothache[213]. Chewing the bark induces copious salivation[222]. Rubbing the fruit against the skin, especially on the lips or in the mouth, produces a numbing effect[K].
A tea or tincture of the bark has been used in the treatment of rheumatism, dyspepsia, dysentery, heart and kidney troubles etc[222].
A tea made from the inner bark has been used to treat itchy skin[213, 257].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

Essential.

The fruits have been used by young men as a perfume[257].
Wood - soft. It weighs 35lb per cubic foot[235]. Of little use[229].

Cultivation details

Prefers a good deep well-drained moisture retentive soil in full sun or semi-shade[1, 11, 200].
A relatively fast-growing plant in the wild, it often forms thickets by means of root suckers[229].
All parts of the plant are fragrant. The bruised foliage has a delicious resinous orange-like perfume[245].
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Flowers are formed on the old wood[206].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Stored seed may requires up to 3 months cold stratification, though scarification may also help[113]. Sow stored seed in a cold frame as early in the year as possible. Germination should take place in late spring, though it might take another 12 months. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in early summer.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame.
Root cuttings, 3cm long, planted horizontally in pots in a greenhouse. Good percentage[78].
Suckers, removed in late winter and planted into their permanent positions[113].

Scent

Plant: Crushed: All parts of the plant are fragrant. The bruised foliage has a delicious resinous orange-like perfume[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Rutaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[206] Larkcom J. Oriental Vegetables John Murray 1991 ISBN 0-7195-4781-4
Well written and very informative.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Zanthoxylum americanum

Klaus Dichtel (klaussss@web.de) Thu May 22 20:31:52 2003

A gardener I visited last month guessed his bearing zanthoxylum doesn�t have a male pollinator and this, too, is confirmed by a "Joachim" in a forum at www.planten.de who says in 'The Plant-Book'/D.J.Mabberley zanthoxylum isn�t doecious and neither are normaly all the members of the rutaceae.

Here the hardiness is rated with 3. In "agroforesty news"/October�92 it is rated with 4.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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