What is wild prickly ash?

Wild prickly ash, also known as Zanthoxylum bungeanum, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, etc., is a deciduous shrub or small tree of Zanthoxylum bungeanum of Rutaceae. It can be planted alone or as a protective thorn hedge. More wild ones can also be cultivated artificially. Its shape is similar to that of Zanthoxylum bungeanum, the main difference is that the leaves of Zanthoxylum bungeanum are thick and papery, there are transparent glandular spots on both sides, the fruit is nearly spherical, the color is yellowish brown to purplish red, it is put into medicine temperature to remove dampness, dispel wind and cold, and has the effect of relieving pain, invigorating stomach, anti-bacteria and expelling ascaris.

The leaves of Zanthoxylum bungeanum have 5-15 leaflets, the leaf axis has a narrow leaf edge, and the ventral surface is ditch-like depression. Leaflets opposite, sessile or located at the base of leaf rachis with very short petiolules, ovate, ovate-elliptic or lanceolate, 2.5-7 cm long and 1.5-4 cm wide, slightly asymmetrical on both sides, apically acute or mucronate, often with notches, many oil spots, translucent and often slightly raised after drying, with nest-shaped depressions, leaf surfaces often with setose spines, midrib sunken, leaf margin with alienated and shallow obtuse teeth.

The inflorescence of Zanthoxylum bungeanum is terminal, 1-5 cm long, 5-8 tepals, narrowly lanceolate, broadly ovate or nearly triangular, sometimes different in size and shape, about 2 mm long, yellowish green. The stamens of male flowers are 5-8, the filaments and semicircular protruding pistillodes are light green, and there are 1 dark brown-black oil spots at the top of the connective. The tepals of female flowers are long and narrow-lanceolate, the carpels are 2-3, and the style is obliquely dorsally curved. The flowering period is from March to May and the fruiting period is from July to September.

Wild Zanthoxylum bungeanum is suitable for warm, humid and deep fertile loam and sandy loam, with strong sprouting, cold tolerance, drought tolerance, like sunshine, strong disease resistance, long hidden bud life, strong pruning resistance, not resistant to waterlogging, and short-term stagnant water can cause death. Found in Qinghai, Gansu, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Fujian, Hunan and northeastern Guizhou, found in flat, low hilly or slightly higher mountain sparse or dense forests.

Wild pepper fruit is used as herbal medicine with warm nature, pungent taste and numb tongue, which has the effects of warming and dispelling cold, invigorating the stomach and removing dampness, relieving pain and killing insects, detoxifying and regulating qi, relieving itching and removing fish. it can be used to treat joint muscle pain caused by accumulated food, stop drinking, hiccup, vomiting, wind, cold and dampness, epigastric cold pain, diarrhea, diarrhea, ascariasis, Yin itching and other diseases.