Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
FAMILY
Rutaceae
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.
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
COMMON NAME:
Toothache Tree, Hercules-club, Sea-ash, Southern Prickly-ash
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_zacl_001_lvd
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_zacl_005_lvd
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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.
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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.
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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.
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JK Marlow jkm181110_5687
November Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
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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.
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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 (11/30/12):
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
2318
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Dioecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Uncommon, endemic to the Southeastern Coastal Plain
Look for it in maritime forests, dunes, shell middens, shell hammocks, maritime scrub, inland (in FL and GA) in hammocks, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaves oft armed with prickles on rachis; prickles oft scattered over twig
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 7-17 leaflets
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Yellowish-green
Unisexual
Radially symmetrical
4-6 sepals
4-6 petals
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red
Follicle
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p351
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p082
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide p304
- Trees of the Southeastern United States p077
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p087
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p387