About Zanthoxylum schinifolium Siebold & Zucc.
Zanthoxylum schinifolium, commonly known as mastic-leaf prickly ash, is a flowering plant species belonging to the citrus family Rutaceae. This species was first formally described and published by botanists Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini in 1845, appearing on page 137 of volume 4 (issue 2) of Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. It is native to central and eastern China, as well as other parts of temperate eastern Asia, including Japan, Korea, Manchuria, the Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan. It grows as a shrub that is primarily found in temperate biome regions. Two varieties of this species are currently accepted and known: Zanthoxylum schinifolium var. okinawense (Nakai) Hatus. ex Simabuku, and Zanthoxylum schinifolium var. schinifolium. The peppercorns of this plant are the source of the Sancho spice used in Korean cuisine. In China, the plant is called 青花椒, which translates to green flower-pepper or green Sichuan pepper. It is used in both traditional medicine and cooking, and it is an economically important crop in the Chinese province of Sichuan. In Sichuan Province, China, the fungal pathogen Pestalotiopsis kenyana is known to cause leaf spot disease on Zanthoxylum schinifolium.
