North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages

Rutaceae > Zanthoxylum (Prickly-ash, Toothache Tree)
	Toothache Tree, Hercules' Club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash, Pepper-bark, Tickletongue (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) Figure 8 Island, New Hanover Co.,NC 27 Aug 2006 Uncommon in NC and found in sandy maritime habitats, mostly on barrier islands.
	Toothache Tree, Hercules' Club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash, Pepper-bark, Tickletongue (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) Figure 8 Island, New Hanover Co.,NC 27 Aug 2006 Chewing on the leaves and twigs produces a tingling, numbing sensation.
	Toothache Tree, Hercules' Club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash, Pepper-bark, Tickletongue (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) Figure 8 Island, New Hanover Co.,NC 27 Aug 2006 Leaves, twigs, and trunk are all armed with stout spines!
	Toothache Tree, Hercules' Club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash, Pepper-bark, Tickletongue (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) Stabilized dunes at Cape Hatteras Point in Dare Co., NC 24 Oct 2013
	Toothache Tree, Hercules' Club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash, Pepper-bark, Tickletongue (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) Stabilized dunes at Cape Hatteras Point in Dare Co., NC 24 Oct 2013

Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Common names from personal experience and supplemented by the following resources USDA plants website, Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, and NatureServe.