Zanthoxylum planispinum
Common name: 
Winged Prickly Ash
Pronunciation: 
zan-tho-ZI-lum plah-ni-SPEE-num
Family: 
Rutaceae
Genus: 
Zanthoxylum
Synonyms: 
Zanthoxylum armatum
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Deciduous shrub to about 12 ft (4 m) tall, very aromatic, spiny prickles with a broad flattened base, about 2 cm long, often in pairs.  Leaves alternate, odd-pinnate, 3-5(7) leaflets, winged stalk (rachis), leaflets oblong to lanceolate, finely toothed, apex acuminate, dark glossy green, 2-15 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, the terminal leaflet is largest.  Flowers small, apetalous, yellowish, in small 3-4 cm axillary clusters (panicles) in spring.  Fruit rounded, warty, red, 5 mm across, seeds glossy black.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 6         Native to Japan, Korea, and China.
  • planispinum: with flat spines
  • Portland, Oregon: Hoyt Arboretum (as Zanthoxylum armatum)
Click image to enlarge
  • fruit and spines, winter

    fruit and spines, winter