About Zanthoxylum scandens Blume
Zanthoxylum scandens Blume is a woody plant that grows as either a shrub or a woody climber. It has a self-supporting growth form, and individual plants can reach up to 24 metres (79 feet) in height. Prickles are present on its trunks, branches, branchlets, and leaf rachises. Its flowers are tetramerous, with a perianth arranged in two series. The sepals are pale purplish green, ovate in shape, and measure approximately 0.5 millimetres (0.020 inches). Male flowers have four stamens, are 3 to 4 millimeters in size, and have a spot at the apex. Female flowers have three carpels and ligulate staminodes. Its fruit follicles are purplish red when fresh, and turn grayish brown to black when dry. The seeds are roughly 4 to 5 millimeters in diameter. This species usually flowers from March to May, and produces fruit from July to August. Zanthoxylum scandens is distributed across southern Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang in China, as well as in India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It grows most commonly in lowland forests, open forests, and thickets, at elevations ranging from near sea level up to 1,500 metres (4,921 feet).
