Jun 20, 2018
Plant of the Day
Wednesday 20 June 2018
The trunk of this aromatic, deciduous shrub or small tree always announces its presence in a garden - Zanthoxylum americanum (prickly ash, toothache tree) is a native to central and eastern ports of the United States and Canada. It can grow into a small, multi-stemmed tree with a round crown. On the twigs there are two thorns under each bud and on mature bark, these thorns are visible as bumps. The small green-yellow flowers tend to appear before the leaves develop and are followed by black fruits. These are aromatic, very sharp tasting and have a numbing effect and so were chewed to relieve toothache.
Jill Raggett