Liang Mian Zhen

Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. (Rutaceae), the shiny-leaf prickly ash, is a scrambling evergreen shrub or woody climber to 3-5 m, with stems and branches densely armed with stout, recurved, broad-based prickles. The alternate, imparipinnate leaves bear three to nine glossy, leathery, ovate to elliptic leaflets 4-10 cm long, with crenate margins and prominent translucent oil dots; the rachis and midribs are also prickly. Small, four-merous, pale yellow-green flowers in axillary panicles give rise to reddish-brown, glandular-dotted follicles releasing shiny black seeds. Native to southern China, Taiwan, Indochina, the Indian subcontinent, and the Pacific islands, the pungent, aromatic root (Liang Mian Zhen) is used in TCM and southern Chinese folk medicine to invigorate blood, dispel wind-damp, and relieve pain.