Zanthoxylum martinicense (Lam.) DC.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Rutaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Zanthoxylum martinicense (Lam.) DC.

  • Description

    Species Description - Armed tree to 20 m tall; bark dark brown, smooth, with vertical stripes and conical prickles that grow with age; twigs nearly cylindrical, ferruginous-tomentose when young. Leaflets (9-)15-21, chartaceous, 5-10 x 1.4-1.8 cm, oblong to oblongelliptic, sparsely pubescent, especially along veins, the apex acute to long-acuminate, the base unequal, obtuse-rounded, the margins crenulate to entire; petioles 5-6 cm long. Flowers 5-merous, in axillary or terminal panicles or racemes. Calyx of ovate-triangular lobes, 0.5-0.7 mm long; petals white, 2-3 mm long, oblong; stamens 5, the filaments longer than the petals; gynophore tubular, ca. 0.5 mm high, glabrous; ovary glabrous, 5-carpellate, the carpels united but separating at maturity. Follicles 5, sessile, laterally compressed, 5 mm long, punctate. Seeds nearly ovoid, shiny black, ca. 4.5 mm long.

    Distribution and Ecology - A common tree of moist forests. Road to Bordeaux (A1920), Adrian Ruins (A2510). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and northern South America

  • Discussion

    Zanthoxylum juglandifolium Willd., Sp. PL 4: 756. 1806.

    Zanthoxylum lanceolatum Poir. in Lam., Encycl. Suppl. 2: 293. 1811.