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Jesse Randall
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Claudette Sandoval-Green
Last Updated:
June 14, 2012
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Disease
Insects
- Emerald Ash Borer
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Prickly Ash
(Xanthoxylum americanum)
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The Prickly Ash also known as the Northern Prickly Ash or the Toothache tree, is a shrub that grows 4 to 10 feet (maximum 25 feet). It has paired prickles flanking the leaf scars and buds, and encountering a specimen without prickles is very rare.
Hardiness: zones 3 through 9 Growth Rate: moderate to fast Mature Shape: slightly pyramidal, upright with a rounded crown Height: 50 to 80 feet Width: 50 to 70 feet Site Requirements: Native to Iowa, ash trees grow best in full sun and moist, well-drained soils. Ash trees are tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. Flowering Dates: Spring Seed Dispersal Dates: Late summer Seed Bearing Age: Seed Bearing Frequency: Seed Stratification: Prechill for 4 months at 34F to 40F |
The leaves are 3 to 10 inches, compound, 5 to 11 toothed egg-shaped leaflets with prickly leafstalks.
Flowers are small, green, clustered and bloom in April and May. Fruit are small, dry, red-brown, 1 to 2 seed pods that produce from August to October.
Chewing the leaves, fruit, or bark was once thought to cure a toothache, and if you crush the foliage it will emit a distinctive lemon scent.
Click on a thumbnail image below to view a larger picture. |
