Hercules' Club

Description:

Also called the Prickly Ash. A small spiny tree or shrub with aromatic leaves that produce a tingly sensation if you chew on them.

Habitat:

Found on hammocks, wet woods, sand dunes, shell middens, usually near the coast. This tree was growing in our local park. Hercules' club is native to the southeastern United States.

Notes:

Often confused with the toothache tree-Zanthoxylum americanum Mill which has thorns primarily in pairs along the stem rather than scattered. Chewing on the bark or leaves causes numbing of the mouth, teeth and tongue.