Plant Japanese Pepper

Spice:

Japanese pepper

Botanical Name:

Zanthoxylum piperitum

Botany:

The plant belongs to the citrus and rue family, Rutaceae. The tree blooms in April to May, forming axillary flower clusters, about 5mm, and yellow-green in color. It is dioecious, and the flowers of the male plant can be consumed as hana-sanshō, while the female flowers yield berries or peppercorns of about 5mm. In autumn, these berries ripen, turning scarlet and burst, scattering the black seeds within. The branch grows pairs of sharp thorns and has odd-epinnately compound leaves, alternately arranged, with 5〜9 pairs of ovate leaflets having crenate (slightly serrated) margins. It is a host plant for the Japanese indigenous swallowtail butterfly species, the citrus butterfly Papilio xuthus, which has also spread to Hawaii. Chemical analysis has revealed that the seeds contain remarkably high concentrations of sugar-modified derivatives (glucosides) of N-methylserotonin and N,N-dimethylserotonin, also known as bufotenin.

Cultivation:

In Japan, Wakayama Prefecture boasts 80% of domestic production.[18] Aridagawa, Wakayama produces a specialty variety called budō sanshō ("grape sansho"), which bears large fruits and clusters, rather like a bunch of grapes. The thornless variety, Asakura sansho, derives its name from its place of origin, the Asakura district in the now defunct Yokacho [ja], integrated into Yabu, Hyōgo.

Wikipedia URL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_piperitum