Tickle Tongue

Synonyms

Toothache Tree, Prickly Ash (sec. Correll and Johnston 1970); Zanthoxylum carolinianum var. fruticosum A. Gray (sec. Correll and Johnston 1970)

Cultivar or taxon

Zanthoxylum hirsutum Buckley (sec. Correll and Johnston 1970)

Description

Crown compact or dense, not weeping. First-year twig surface pubescent; second- or third-year twig surface striate; thorns recurved or straight; prickles absent or not persistent. Petiole pubescent, length very long; wings absent. Leaflets five to seven, margin crenate/crenulate or bluntly toothed, rachis wings absent, shade leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate, sun leaflet blades flat or weakly conduplicate. Scent of crushed leaflets spicy or peppery. Fruit broader than long, as broad as long, or longer than broad; rind black (by misinterpretation) or red or pink; rind texture slightly rough (4-5); firmness papery; navel absent; flesh yellow.

Notes

This species is one of the more common of the four species of Zanthoxylum in Texas (see Correll and Johnston 1970). It may occur both over calcareous or sandy substrates, and is generally found from central Texas to the se. coast. In contrast to Z. clava-herculis, Z. hirsutum exhibits rather blunt leaves, a character shared with Z. fagara (another rather frequent component of the se. TX flora). Unlike Z. fagara however, Z. hirsutum, bears flowers in rather ample inflorescences to 7 cm long (1-2 cm in Z. fagara) and lacks winged petioles and rachises. See the genus level fact sheet for Zanthoxylum for a key to Zanthoxylum species in the continental United States.

References

Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation, Renner. 1881 pp.

Resources

Search for this cultivar in NCBI Entrez