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Zanthoxylum (Greek, xanthos, yellow, and xylon, wood). Also spelled Xanthoxylum. Including Fagara. Rutaceae. Ornamental woody plants chiefly planted for their handsome foliage and for their ornamental fruits.
Deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes sarmentose, or trees, with usually prickly branches; most parts, particularly the frs., emitting a strong aromatic odor when bruised: lvs. alternate, odd-pinnate, 3-foliolate or rarely simple: fls. dioecious or polygamous, small, in cymes or panicles; sepals, petals, and stamens 3-8, sepals often wanting; pistils 3-5: fr. composed of 1-5 separate small dehiscent caps., each with 1-2 shining black seeds.—The genus contains about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, and a few in temperate regions. Several species are used medicinally. The wood of some W. Indian species and that of the Australian Z. brachyacanthum is considered valuable. The frs. of Z. piperitum are used like pepper in Japan.
The zanthoxylums in cultivation are prickly shrubs or rarely small trees with mostly deciduous odd-pinnate, medium-sized or rather small foliage and small greenish or whitish flowers in small, rarely large, axillary or terminal clusters, followed by usually reddish small pods disclosing lustrous black seeds at maturity. Z. americanum is the only species which is hardy North, while the species from eastern Asia, as Z. schinifolium, Z. Bungei, and Z. alatum var. planispinum, have proved fairly hardy in favorable positions as far north as Massachusetts, the first being the hardiest, but they probably will be perfectly hardy in the Middle Atlantic states. They do not seem to be particular as to the soil, but grow best in a well-drained soil and sunny position. Propagation is by seeds and by suckers or root-cuttings.
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| name = ''Zanthoxylum''
| name = ''Zanthoxylum''