AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



47 



PRICKLY-ASH 



(1) Zanthoxylum americanum Mill.; (2) Z. clava-herculis L. (Fig. 87.) 



Synonyms. — (1) Xanthoxylum fraxineum Willd.; (2) X. carolinianum Lam.; 

 Fagara clava-herculis (L.) Small. 



Other common names. — Common prickly-ash, northern prickly-ash, tooth- 

 ache tree, toothache bush, yellowwood, angelica tree, pellitory-bark, suterberry; 

 (2) southern prickly-ash, Hercules-club, toothache tree, yellow Hercules, yellow- 

 thorn, yellowwood, j 7 ellow prickly-ash, prickly yellowwood, West Indian yellow- 

 wood, sea ash, pepperwood, wild orange. 



Habitat and range. — The common, or northern, prickly-ash is common in 

 woods, thickets, and along river banks from Virginia, Missouri, and Kansas 

 northward to Canada, while the southern prickly-ash grows along streams from 

 southern Virginia to Florida and west to Texas and Arkansas. 



Description. — (1) The common or northern prickly-ash is generally a shrub 

 from 10 to 12 feet high, rarely exceeding 25 feet. Its leaflets are from 5 to 11 in 

 number and from l}i to 2 inches long. The greenish-yellow flowers appear about 

 April or May, before the leaves are borne in dense, stemless clusters from the 

 axils of the branches. The branches have brown, cone-shaped prickles, and the 

 bark, leaves, and pods are highly aromatic. 



(2) The southern prickly-ash is taller than the 'northern species, but seldom 

 attains a greater height than 45 feet. Its leaves consist of 5 to 17 leaflets from 

 114 to 3 inches long, and its small, greenish flowers appear in June after the leaves 

 are out, borne in large clusters at the ends of the branches. The entire tree is 

 furnished with sharp spines or prickles. 



Part used. — The bark of both species. In reasonably constant demand. 



Figure 87. — Southern prickly-ash 

 (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) 



Figure 88.— Prickly lettuce {Lactuca scariola) 



PRICKLY LETTUCE 



Lactuca scariola L. (Fig. 88.) 



Synonym. — Lactuca virosa Amer. auth., not L. 



Other common names. — Wild opium, wild lettuce. 



Habitat and range. — The prickly lettuce occurs in fields and waste places 

 from Vermont to Georgia and westward to the Pacific coast. 



Description. — This is a bright-green plant, from 2 to 7 feet high, covered with 

 a whitish bloom. It has an erect, rigid stem sometimes smooth throughout 

 but at times hairy at the base, with numerous clasping, oblong lance-shaped 

 leaves with finely toothed margins and spiny bristles along the under side of the 



105166°— 30 4 



