Sichuan-pepper

Zanthoxylum schinifolium is a deciduous shrub or small tree in the citrus family (Rutaceae), typically reaching 1-3 meters in height. Stems and branches are armed with scattered, broad-based, flattened spines. The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 7-15 cm long, with 11-21 small leaflets that are ovate-lanceolate, 1-3 cm long, with finely crenate margins and conspicuous pellucid oil glands releasing a citrus-pepper aroma when crushed; the rachis is sometimes narrowly winged. Small yellowish-green flowers are borne in terminal corymbose panicles in summer; the species is functionally dioecious. The fruit is a small dehiscent follicle 4-5 mm across, ripening red and splitting to expose a single shiny black seed; the pericarp is intensely aromatic with citrus and tingling notes. Native to East Asia including China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and parts of Russia's Far East, it inhabits hillsides, thickets, and forest margins.