Prickly Ash Characteristics

Prickly ash is an aromatic, spiny, thicket-forming deciduous brier or baby timberline that, as the accepted name suggests, resembles (particularly in leaf) an ash with prickles. It is not an ash, however, but a affiliate of the citrus ancestors (Rutaceae) and is carefully accompanying to the aswell annoying able orange, Poncirus trifoliata. Prickly ash is a Missouri built-in plant that about occurs on bluffs, altitude bouldered hillsides, accessible woods, clammy ravines and thickets in a lot of of the State except for the Ozark arena (Steyermark).

It is a lot of generally apparent in the agrarian as an 8-10' alpine multi-stemmed shrub. However, it will abound beyond and is occasionally apparent as a baby timberline up to 25' tall. Compound, odd-pinnate, aphotic blooming leaves (to 1' long) accept 5-11 leaflets each. Stems and leaves accept aciculate prickles to 1/2" long. Male and changeable flowers arise on extracted copse (dioecious) in axillary clusters (cymes) on old wood. Flowers blossom in bounce afore the leaves emerge. Flowers are greenish-yellow, ambrosial and inconspicuous, but are absolutely adorable to bees. Changeable flowers accord way to clusters of rounded, reddish-brown, berry-like fruits (follicles) which complete in backward summer (1-2 agleam atramentous seeds per follicle).

Fruits may be the best accessory feature. All locations of this plant (leaves, flowers, fruit, bark and roots) are ambrosial (lemony fragrance). Sometimes frequently alleged toothache timberline because Built-in Americans chewed the bark or fruits (producing a algid effect) for abatement from toothache pain. Built-in Americans aswell able a array of alleviative decoctions from the bark and roots for analysis of such problems and fever, coughs, gonorrhea, rheumatism and alien wounds. Formerly accepted as Xanthoxyum americanum.