Sichuan-pepper

Zanthoxylum bungeanum, the red Sichuan pepper or huajiao, is a deciduous, spiny shrub or small tree in the rue family (Rutaceae) reaching 3 to 7 m tall. Its branches and trunk bear scattered, broad-based prickles. The aromatic, pinnately compound leaves have a narrowly winged rachis and 5 to 11 ovate, finely toothed leaflets dotted with translucent oil glands that release a pungent citrus-peppery scent when crushed. Small greenish-yellow flowers are borne in terminal clusters in spring. The fruit is a small reddish, warty, rounded follicle that splits open at maturity to release a single shiny black seed; the dried, aromatic pericarp is the part used as the famous tongue-numbing spice. Native to China, it is widely cultivated across temperate East Asia on hillsides, slopes, and field margins.