Plant Zanthoxylum armatum

Spice:

SIchuan pepper

Botanical Name:

Zanthoxylum armatum

Botany:

The plant grows as a woody climber, a shrub or a tree, up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) in height. It is deciduous, with subsessile, opposite leaves of lanceolate, obovate or elliptic shape. Branchlets and leaves have prickles/spines. The young branchlets and inflorescence rachises are glabrous or the young branches are sparsely pubescent. The rachis of the leaves is pubescent glabrous or rust-colored and has wings to 6 mm on each side, hence it common English name, this is one of the anatomical features distinguishing it from other Zanthoxylum species.[4] Other anatomically separating features are generally faint secondary veins of leaflet blades, especially adaxially, with 7-15 on each side of midvein; the anthers of the male flowers are yellow before anthesis; and the gynoecium of the female flowers is 1-3-carpelled. Fruit follicles are purplish-red, about 4-5mm in diameter, while the seeds are black and 3-4mm in size. The shrub flowers in China from April to May, and fruits from August to October, in Nepal it flowers during the same months, while the fruit is available all year round. In India, flowering is from March to April.

Cultivation:

N/A

Wikipedia URL:

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