Hercules' club
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
Description 5
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Hercules' club (or Hercules-club), pepperwood, or southern prickly ash, is a spiny tree or shrub in the Citrus Family 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 pinnately compound, 20–30 cm long with 7-19 leaflets, each leaflet 4–5 cm long.
Uses: The bark, leaves, and berries produce a numbing effect when chewed and was used by Native Americans and Settlers for dental pain. The dried berries can be used as a spice like Sichuan peppers in Chinese cooking.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Sharpj99, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/6862463430_9d044750b0_b.jpg
- (c) renkaw, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
- (c) Gaberlunzi, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hercules_Club_Zanthoxylum_clava-herculis_2008-12-27.jpg
- anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zanthoxylum_clava-herculis2.jpg
- Adapted by Amber Leung from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_clava-herculis
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
iNat Map
| Type | tree |
|---|---|
| What parts | bark, berries, leaves |
| Use | edible, seasoning |
| Origin | native |
| In scnp | yes |
