OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Zanthoxylum americanum   FAMILY Rutaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Zanthoxylum americanum   FAMILY Rutaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Zanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Zanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 103-01-001:

Zanthoxylum americana   FAMILY Rutaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Xanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Zanthoxylum americanum

 

COMMON NAME:
Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969    mpa_page_277

        

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_zaam_001_lvd

        

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_zaam_002_lvd

        

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm210407_9307

April    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm210407_9308

April    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

Flowers in round clusters, ~ 1" across, in leaf axils of 1-year-old branches, per www.minnesotawildflowers.info.

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

Sam Pratt    sbp_040122_1348

April    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

Sam Pratt    sbp_040122_1356

April    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

Sam Pratt    sbp_zanthoxylum1739

May    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

David Campbell    mdc_z_americanum_fruits

July        Ontario, Canada

Fruits are bumpy pods (follicles) about 5-8mm long, reddish [when mature], per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

David Campbell    mdc_z_americanum_leaves

July        Ontario, Canada

Leaflets elliptical, finely and shallowly toothed, both surfaces pubescent, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Zanthoxylum americanum, Northern Toothache Tree, Northern Prickly-ash

David Campbell    mdc_z_americanum_thorns

July        Ontario, Canada

Twigs reddish-brown or gray; broadbased prickles mostly paired at nodes, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Zanthoxylum americanum   FAMILY Rutaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Zanthoxylum americanum   FAMILY Rutaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Zanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Zanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 103-01-001:
Zanthoxylum americana   FAMILY Rutaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Xanthoxylum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Zanthoxylum americanum

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1685

Shrub
Perennial
Dioecious

Habitat: woodlands, forests, and glade margins over calcareous or mafic rocks, often forming extensive colonies near outcrops, per Weakley's Flora

Native to South Carolina & Georgia

Rare, only a single known site in SC

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaves often armed with prickles on rachis; prickles on twigs usually paired at nodes

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 7-13 leaflets
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Yellowish-green
Radially symmetrical
4-6 sepals
4-6 petals
Unisexual

Flowers in small, axillary fascicles

FRUIT:
Summer
Reddish-brown
Follicle

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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