| Zanthoxylum clava-herculis | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Xanthophyllum clava-herculis (Hercules' Club)
|
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Zanthoxylum clava-herculis L. |
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, the Hercules' Club, pepperwood, Southern prickly ash, etc., is a spiny tree or shrub 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. The flowers are dioecious, in panicles up to 20 cm long, each flower small, 6-8 mm diameter, with 3-5 white petals. The fruit is a two-valved capsule 6 mm diameter with a rough surface, and containing several small black seeds.
The tree is also called Z. macrophyllum, and is sometimes called "toothache tree" or "tingle tongue" because of the numbness of the mouth, teeth and tongue induced by chewing on its leaves or bark (thus relieving toothache). The tree has a rounded crown and requires plentiful water and sunlight. Its fruit is eaten by birds, and its leaves are browsed by deer. It is known to be host to a number of insect species, including the Giant swallowtail and the leaf beetle Derospidea brevicollis.
Potentially confused species
The name hercules' club also can apply to Aralia spinosa, also native to eastern North America. Aralia has large twice-compound leaves and very large leaf scars, so the trees are easily distinguished.
