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prickly ash

 
Dictionary: prickly ash
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n.
  1. Any of numerous cosmopolitan, deciduous or evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Zanthoxylum, having aromatic bark and alternate, mostly pinnate leaves.
  2. See Hercules' club (sense 1).

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Food and Nutrition: prickly ash
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Bark and berries of Zanthoxylum americanum and Z. clava-herculis, used as a food flavour, reputed to be a circulatory stimulant, and antirheumatic. Also known as toothache bark.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: prickly ash
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prickly ash, name for two deciduous shrubs or small trees (Zanthoxylum americanum and Z. clava-herculis) of the family Rutaceae (rue family). They are native to E North America and have prickly twigs and foliage similar to that of the unrelated ash tree. A pungent aromatic principle in the bark has been used as a home remedy for various ailments including rheumatism and toothaches (hence the local name toothache tree). Z. clava-herculis, of more southerly distribution, is also known as Hercules'-club. Both Hercules'-club and prickly ash are names sometimes used for an unrelated plant of the family Araliaceae (ginseng family). Other Zanthoxylum species are the sources of Sichuan and Sansho peppercorns (Z. simulans and Z. piperitum, respectively) and of satinwood (Z. flavum). Prickly ash of the genus Zanthoxylum is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae. The family Araliaceae belongs to the order Apiales.

WordNet: prickly ash
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: any of a number of trees or shrubs of the genus Zanthoxylum having spiny branches

Meaning #2: Australian tree having alternate simple leaves (when young they are pinnate with prickly toothed margins) and slender axillary spikes of white flowers
  Synonym: Orites excelsa

Wikipedia: Zanthoxylum
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Zanthoxylum

Zanthoxylum piperitum foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Toddalioideae[1]
Genus: Zanthoxylum
L.
Species

About 250, see text.
Leafless Z. simulans showing its knobbed bark

Zanthoxylum (from the Greek ξανθὸν ξύλον, "yellow wood") is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the citrus or rue family, Rutaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. Common names include prickly-ash and hercules' club.

The fruit of several species are used to make the spice Sichuan Pepper. They are also used as bonsai trees.

Contents

Selected species

Zanthoxylum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Engrailed.

Culinary use

See also: Sichuan pepper

A spice called teppal or tirphal (Zanthoxylum rhetsa) is used in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa, by a very small community called Konkanis (they speak a language called Konkani), an official language of Goa and spoken in many parts of these three states. Teppal is a fruit which grows in bunches like grapes on trees full of thorns. The fresh fruits are parrot green in color and are used as a flavouring agent in many curries made with a paste of coconut, chilis, and other spices. The fruit is seasonal and available during the monsoon period. When dried, the flesh of the fruit hardens, turns a brownish black color and opens up to show the black seeds within. The seeds are discarded and the dried fruit is stored in containers for use around the year. Mostly used in fish preparations and a few vegetarian dishes, with the coconut masala, this spice has a very strong woody aroma and is discarded at the time of eating the curry. This tree is also called jummn kayee or gamathe haralu in Kannada and koili kaya in Malayalam.

Notes & References

  1. ^ "Zanthoxylum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?13017. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  2. ^ http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=Zanthoxylum+rhetsa&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=title&as_sauthors=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=all&hl=en

External links

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Zanthoxylum".  Read more