Zanthoxylum

Zanthoxylum
Z. kauaense
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Subfamily:	Toddalioideae
Genus:	Zanthoxylum L.
Type species
Zanthoxylum americanum Mill.
Species
About 250, see text.
Synonyms
Fagara L. Ochroxylum Schreb. Xanthoxylum Mill.

Zanthoxylum (including genus Fagara) is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the citrus or rue family, Rutaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. Several of the species have yellow heartwood, to which their generic name alludes.

The fruit of several species is used to make the spice, Sichuan pepper. They are also used as bonsai trees. Historically, the bark was widely used for toothache, colic, and rheumatism. Common names include "prickly ash" and "Hercules club".

Selected species

• Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC. – Andaliman; Chinese: 刺花椒 (ci hua jiao)
• Zanthoxylum ailanthoides Sieb. & Zucc. – Chinese: 椿叶花椒 (chun ye hua jiao), 越椒 (yue-jiao), 食茱萸 (shi zhu yu); Japanese: カラスザンショウkarasu-zanshō.

(syn. Fagara ailanthoides (Sieb. & Zucc.) Engler)

• Zanthoxylum alatum Roxb. – Winged prickly ash.

(cf. syn under Z.armatum)

• Zanthoxylum albuquerquei D.R.Simpson (Peru)
• Zanthoxylum americanum Mill. – Toothache Tree, Northern prickly ash (Eastern and Central United States)
• Zanthoxylum armatum DC. – Bamboo-leaf prickly ash; Chinese: 竹叶花椒 (zhu ye hua jiao), 竹葉(花)椒(zhu-ye-(hua)-jiao, "bamboo-leaved Z."), 狗椒 (gou-jia "dog Z."),

(syn. Z. planispinum Sieb. & Zucc.; Z. alatum sensu Forbes & Hemsley, Rehder & Wilson, non Roxburgh; Z. alatum var. planispinum Rehder & Wilson)

• Zanthoxylum atchoum (Aké Assi) Waterman (Côte d'Ivoire)
• Zanthoxylum beecheyanum
• Zanthoxylum belizense Lundell (Central America)
• Zanthoxylum bifoliolatum Leonard – Maricao prickly ash
• Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum F.Muell. – Thorny Yellowwood (Australia)
• Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. – Northern China peppercorn; Chinese: 花椒(hua jiao)
• Zanthoxylum buesgenii
• Zanthoxylum capense (Thunb.) Harv.
• Zanthoxylum caribaeum Lam. – Yellow prickly ash
• Zanthoxylum chevalieri Waterman (Ghana)

Zanthoxylum clava-herculis Fruits and foliage

• Zanthoxylum clava-herculis L. – Hercules club, Southern prickly ash (southeastern United States)
• Zanthoxylum coco Gillies ex Hook. & Arn. – Coco, Smelly Sauco (Argentina, Bolivia)
• Zanthoxylum coreanum Nakai – Korean Lime Tree
• Zanthoxylum coriaceum – Biscayne prickly ash
• Zanthoxylum davyi Waterman
• Zanthoxylum delagoense Waterman (Mozambique)
• Zanthoxylum deremense (Engl.) Kokwaro (Malawi, Tanzania)
• Zanthoxylum dipetalum H.Mann – Kāwaʻu (Hawaii)
• Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) Sarg. – Lime prickly ash (Neotropics)
• Zanthoxylum ferrugineum J.D.Smith (Central America)
• Zanthoxylum flavum Vahl – West Indian Satinwood (Caribbean)
• Zanthoxylum gentlei Lundell (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras)
• Zanthoxylum harrisii P.Wilson ex Britton (Jamaica)
• Zanthoxylum hartii (Krug & Urb.) P.Wilson (Jamaica)
• Zanthoxylum hawaiiense Hillebr. – Aʻe, Hawaiiʻi prickly ash (Hawaii)
• Zanthoxylum heterophyllum (Lam.) Smith (Mauritius, Réunion)
• Zanthoxylum hirsutum Buckley – Texas Hercules club

Z. piperitum Fruits and seeds

• Zanthoxylum holtzianum (Engl.) Waterm. (Tanzania)
• Zanthoxylum humile Waterm.
• Zanthoxylum hyemale A.St.-Hil.
• Zanthoxylum integrifoliolum (Merr.) Merr. (The Philippines, Taiwan)
• Zanthoxylum kauaense A.Gray – Aʻe, Kauaʻi prickly ash (Hawaii)
• Zanthoxylum leprieurii Guill. & Perr.
• Zanthoxylum limonella Alston – Makhwaen (Thai: มะแขว่น)
• Zanthoxylum lindense (Engl.) Kokwaro (Tanzania)
• Zanthoxylum martinicense (Lam.) DC. – White prickly ash
• Zanthoxylum monophyllum (Lam.) P.Wilson – Yellow Prickle

Z. rhetsa bark in Pakke Tiger Reserve

• Zanthoxylum nadeaudii Drake (French Polynesia)
• Zanthoxylum negrilense Fawc. & Rendle (Jamaica)
• Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. – Shining prickly ash; Chinese: 两面针(liang mian zhen "both side needles")
• Zanthoxylum oahuense Hillebr. – Aʻe, Oʻahu Prickly ash (Island of Oʻahu in Hawaii)
• Zanthoxylum ocumarense (Pittier) Steyerm.
• Zanthoxylum ovatifoliolatum Finkelstein
• Zanthoxylum naranjillo Griseb. – Naranjillo
• Zanthoxylum panamense P.Wilson (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama)
• Zanthoxylum paniculatum (Rodrigues)
• Zanthoxylum parvum Shinners – Tickletongue
• Zanthoxylum pinnatum
• Zanthoxylum piperitum (L.) DC. – Japanese Pepper Tree, Japan Pepper, Sanshō; Japanese: 山椒(サンショウ)sanshō; Korean: 초피나무(chopi-namu)
• Zanthoxylum planispinum Siebold & Zucc. → Z. armatum
• Zanthoxylum procerum Donn Sm. (Central America)
• Zanthoxylum psammophilum (Aké Assi) Waterman (Côte d'Ivoire)
• Zanthoxylum punctatum Vahl – Dotted prickly ash
• Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC. – Chirphal, Teppal, Tirphal, Indian Pepper

Leafless Z. simulans showing its knobbed bark

• Zanthoxylum rhoifolium Lam.
• Zanthoxylum schinifolium Siebold & Zucc. – Mastic-leaved prickly ash; Wild Zanthoxylum; Chinese: 香椒子 (xiang-jiao-zi "aromatic Z."), 青花椒 (qing-hua-jiao "green Z."); Japanese: イヌザンショウ (inu-zanshō); Korean: 산초나무(山椒__; sancho-namu)

(syn. Fagara mantchurica (J.Benn. ex Daniell) Honda, F. schinifolia (Seib. & Zucc.) Engl.)

• Zanthoxylum simulans Hance – Chinese prickly ash, Sichuan pepper, Sichuan Zanthoxylum, Sichuan peppercorn; Chinese: 野花椒 (ye hua jiao), 川椒 (chuan-jiao, lit. "Sichuan pepper")(Eastern China, Taiwan)
• Zanthoxylum spinifex (Jacq.) DC. – Niaragato
• Zanthoxylum thomasianum (Krug & Urb.) P.Wilson – St. Thomas prickly ash (Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, United States Virgin Islands)
• Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Zepern. & Timler, 1981; Senegal pricky ash

Formerly placed here

• Eleutherococcus trifoliatus (L.) S.Y.Hu (as Z. trifoliatum L.)
• Melicope lunu-ankenda (Gaertn.) T.G.Hartley (as Z. roxburghianum Cham.)
• Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T.G.Hartley (as Z. pteleifolium Champ. ex Benth.)

Taxonomy

The generic name is derived from Greek words ξανθὸς (xanthos), meaning "yellow," and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood." It refers to a yellow dye made from the roots of some species. The Takhtajan system places the genus in the subfamily Rutoideae, tribe Zanthoxyleae, while Germplasm Resources Information Network places it in the subfamily Toddalioideae and does not assign it to a tribe. The once separate genus Fagara is now included in Zanthoxylum.

Uses

Many Zanthoxylum species make excellent bonsai and in temperate climates they can be grown quite well indoors. Zanthoxylum beecheyanum and Zanthoxylum piperitum are two species commonly grown as bonsai.

Culinary use

See also: Sichuan pepper

Spices are made from a number of species in this genus, especially Zanthoxylum piperitum, Z. simulans, Z. bungeanum, Z. schinifolium Z. nitidum, Z. rhetsa, Z. alatum, and Z. acanthopodium. Sichuan pepper is most often made by grinding the husks that surround Z. piperitum berries. In the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa in Western India, the berries of Z. rhetsa are sun-dried and added to foods such as legumes and fish. Because the trees bear fruit during the monsoon season, the berries are associated with the concurrent Krishna Janmashtami festival.

It is called timur or timbur in Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim and is used widely to make a tingling dip, especially for boiled food like potatoes and yams.

Chemistry

Plants in the genus Zanthoxylum contain the lignan sesamin.

Species identified in Nigeria contains several types of alkaloids including benzophenanthridines (nitidine, dihydronitidine, oxynitidine, fagaronine, dihydroavicine, chelerythrine, dihydrochelerythrine, methoxychelerythrine, norchelerythrine, oxychelerythrine, decarine and fagaridine), furoquinolines (dictamine, 8-methoxydictamine, skimmianine, 3-dimethylallyl-4-methoxy-2-quinolone), carbazoles (3-methoxycarbazole, glycozoline), aporphines (berberine, tembetarine, magnoflorine, M-methyl-corydine), canthinones (6-canthinone), acridones (1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-10-methylacridon-9-one, 1-hydroxy-10-methylacridon-9-one, zanthozolin), and aromatic and aliphatic amides. Hydroxy-alpha sanshool is a bioactive component of plants from the Zanthoxylum genus, including the Sichuan pepper.

Ecology

Zanthoxylum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Engrailed (moth).

References

• PDF

External links

• Bonsai Plants and Tree Species Guide by Ma-Ke Bonsai