Zanthoxylum hirsutum (Texas Prickly Ash)

Also known as Texas Hercules' Club, Limestone Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, Tickle-tongue, Tingle-tongue.

Texas Prickly Ash is a shrub or a small tree with shiny, aromatic leaves, small, greenish flowers that are followed by small, round fruit that is red when ripe. Crushed leaves have an odor suggestive of orange peel.  

Fruit is reputedly edible, with a lemon zest taste that first tingles, then numbs in the mouth, similar to the Szechuan peppers used in Chinese cuisine. Szechuan peppers are also from a Zanthoxylum species. The leaves have a similar but less intense taste and effect.

Bark, leaves, and fruit all reportedly numb the mouth and have been used to treat mouth pain, including toothache, hence its other common name, Toothache Tree.

Texas Prickly Ash is found in open areas and at the edges of woodlands. It is slow growing and requires very little maintenance. Branches and stems are prickly. 

Texas Prickly Ash is a larval food source for the Giant Swallowtail butterflies. It also provides an excellent source of seeds and fruit for birds. It can be used for hedgerows, screens, naturalized woodland areas or integrated into native plantings.

AT A GLANCE

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Present in state

Present in county and native

Native to North America, but adventive & escaped in state

Not present in state

Present and rare, native in county

Previously present, now extinct

Questionable presence (cross-hatched, regardless of color)