WILD FOODIES' HOME PAGE
PLANT PROFILE LIST

  

NAME: Prickly Ash

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Zanthoxylum americanum - Mill.

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): Hercules' Club, Toothache Tree

CONDITIONS: sun/shade
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves
Stalk/Stem
Buds
Flowers
Fruits
Pods
Seeds		pepper	COOK
Nuts
Roots
Bark

PORTION: small

COMMENT: Related to Szechuan Pepper.// Seed - cooked. It is used as a condiment. A pepper substitute. The fruit is rather small, about 4 - 5m in diameter, but is produced in dense clusters which makes harvesting easy. Each fruit contains a single seed.(1)

CAUTION:

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:  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. All parts of the plant, but especially the bark and roots, contain the aromatic bitter oil xanthoxylin. This has a number of applications in medicine, especially in the treatment of arthritic and rheumatic conditions, digestive problems and leg ulcers. The fruit has a similar medicinal action to the bark. The bark and roots are irritant, odontalgic and antirheumatic. Along with the fruit they are diaphoretic, stimulant and a useful tonic in debilitated conditions of the stomach and digestive organs.(1)

LOOK-A-LIKES:  Can be confused with Devil's Walking Stick 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

OTHER USES:

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Zanthoxylum+americanum
2. https://www.eattheweeds.com/hercules-club-speak-softly-but - related
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_americanum
4. https://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/prickly-ashtoothache-tree.html
5. https://alongthegrapevine.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/seasoning-with-prickly-ash
6. https://foragerchef.com/wild-szechuan-peppercorns
7. https://the-natural-web.org/2017/02/18/northern-prickly-ash