Mastic-leaf prickly ash is a thorny shrub from eastern Asia whose fruit is used as a mild pepper-like spice. In China it is known as green Sichuan pepper and is an important crop in Sichuan. It is related to the prickly ashes that grow wild in the US, but it is native only to East Asia.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A deciduous shrub about 3–10 ft (1–3 m) tall, with separate male and female plants.
- Leaves
- with many small leaflets arranged like a feather; the leaflets are dotted with tiny oil glands.
- Flowers
- Small, pale greenish flowers in clusters at the branch tips, each with five petals.
- Fruit
- Small capsules that turn red in fall and split open to show shiny black seeds.
Look-alikes
Japanese pepperZanthoxylum piperitum
Japanese pepper has its spines in opposite pairs and flowers without petals; mastic-leaf prickly ash has single, alternate spines and five-petaled flowers.
Why they get mixed upBoth are thorny East Asian shrubs with similar feathery leaves and spice-bearing fruit.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Mountain slopes
- Forest edges
- Riverbanks
- Range
- Native to China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Islands. It is not part of the native US flora.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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