Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Toothache Tree at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Chewing a leaf or twig has a numbing effect on the mouth similar to that of Ctenium aromaticum, Toothache Grass, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 103-01-002:
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis FAMILY Rutaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Xanthoxylum clava-herculis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
COMMON NAME:
Southern Toothache Tree, Hercules-club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
JK Marlow jkm200301_2975
March Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
A large shrub or small tree, often 4-10m tall, usually with a single trunk, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
JK Marlow jkm181110_5682
November Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
Leaflets coriaceous, crenate, glabrous, with midveins closer to lower margins, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
JK Marlow jkm181110_5683
November Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
Rachis spiny; leaflets leathery, narrowly ovate, shallowly toothed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
JK Marlow jkm181110_5687b
November Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
Twigs greenish-gray (vs. Z. americanum's reddish-brown or gray), per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
Will Stuart wil_10836880524
November Horry County SC
Heritage Shores Nature Preserve
On larger branches and trunks, the spines become elevated on corky bases, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 103-01-002:
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Xanthoxylum clava-herculis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis