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Botanical Name: Zanthoxylum alatum
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily:Toddalioideae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Sapindales
Synonyms :Zanthoxylum armatum.
Common Names: Winged Prickly Ash, Tooyh ache tree
Other vernacular names:
Bengali: Gaira.
Hindi: Darman, Darmar (as Z. alatum), Tejbal, Tejpal, Tejphal, Tumru.
Kannada: Dhiva, Jimmi, Tumburudu.
Malayalam: Thumbunalari, Tumpunal, Tumpuni.
Tamil: Tumpunalu.
Telagu: Gandhalu, Konda kasimi.
Burmese: Gawra kha nan nan, Teza bo.
Nepalese: Timbur, Timur.
Sanskrit: Tejohwa, Tejpal, Tumburu, Tumburuh.
Chinese: Ci zhu ye hua jiao, Qin jiao, Huan hua zhen, Bai zong guan, Shan hua jiao. Zhu ye jiao.
Japanese: Fuyu zanshou.
German: Nepalpfeffer.
Habitat:Zanthoxylum alatum is native to E. Asia – China to the Himalayas. It grows in the forest undergrowth and hot valleys to 1800 metres in the Himalayas.
Description:
Zanthoxylum alatum is a deciduous Shrub growing to 4 m (13ft 1in). The tree is almost entirely smooth, with a strong aromatic smell. Bark is corky, with conspicuous young stems with thick conical prickles raising rising from a corky base. Spines are shining and sharp, growing on branchlets. Leaves are alternate, usually with 2 to 6 pairs of leaflets. Petioles and rachis are narrowly winged. Leaflets are elliptic-lanceolate, 2 to 8 centimeters long and 1 to 1.8 centimeters wide. Flowers are small, yellow, usually unisexual, borne in dense lateral panicles. Fruit is usually a solitary carpel dehiscing ventrally, about 3 millimeters in diameter, tubercled, red, and strongly aromatic.
The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required)The plant is not self-fertile...CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
Prefers a good deep well-drained moisture retentive soil in full sun or semi-shade. This species is closely related to Z. planispinum. Flowers are formed on the old wood. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Propagation:
Seed – best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Stored seed may requires up to 3 months cold stratification, though scarification may also help. Sow stored seed in a cold frame as early in the year as possible. Germination should take place in late spring, though it might take another 12 months. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in early summer. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Root cuttings, 3cm long, planted horizontally in pots in a greenhouse. Good percentage. Suckers, removed in late winter and planted into their permanent positions.
Edible Uses: Condiment.
The seed is ground into a powder and used as a condiment. A pepper substitute, it is widely used in the Orient. A light roasting brings out more of the flavour. The seed is an ingredient of the famous Chinese ‘five spice’ mixture. The fruit is rather small but is produced in clusters which makes harvesting easy. Each fruit contains a single seed. Young leaves are used as a condiment.
Medicinal Uses:
The seeds and the bark are used as an aromatic tonic in the treatment of fevers, dyspepsia and cholera. The fruits, branches and thorns are considered to be carminative and stomachic. They are used as a remedy for toothache.
Other Uses:
Miscellany; Teeth; Wood.
The fruit contains 1.5% essential oil. The fruit is used to purify water. Toothbrushes are made from the branches[146, 158]. Wood – heavy, hard, close grained. Used for walking sticks.
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Zanthoxylum+alatum
