刺壳花椒 ci ke hua jiao

Woody climbers. Young branchlets, leaf rachises, petiolules, and leaflet blades abaxially on midvein pubescent. Branchlets and leaves with prickles. Leaves (3 or)5-11-foliolate; petiolules 2-5 mm; leaflet blades alternate or opposite, ovate, ovate-elliptic, or long elliptic, 7-13 × 2.5-5 cm, thickly leathery, base rounded to cordate, margin entire or subentire. Inflorescences axillary or terminal. Flowers 4-merous. Perianth in 2 series. Sepals pale purplish green. Petals 2-3 mm. Male flowers: stamens 4. Female flowers: carpels (3 or)4(or 5). Fruit pedicel obsolete or to 3 mm; follicles with prickles to 1 cm. Seeds 6-8 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Oct-Dec.

● Forests, hillside open forests and thickets; 200-1800 m. N Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, W Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, SE Yunnan.

Lower Taxa

• Zanthoxylum echinocarpum var. echinocarpum
• Zanthoxylum echinocarpum var. tomentosum C. C. Huang