Prickly ash (Rutaceae)
Photo: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Overview
Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to about 10 ft (3 m), featuring thorny gray branches and compound leaves. Its bark and berries have a warming, stimulating effect on circulation, offering relief for rheumatic pains, digestive sluggishness, and conditions like Raynaud’s disease (cold extremities) and intermittent claudication.
Traditional uses & properties
Circulatory Stimulant & Antirheumatic: Improves blood flow to stiff joints, beneficial for arthritis, rheumatic pain, and poor peripheral circulation (Raynaud’s disease). Carminative & Diaphoretic: Helps relieve gas, mild digestive issues, and promotes sweating in fevers. Alterative (Blood Purifier): Some herbal traditions use it to enhance the removal of waste products. Analgesic (Anodyne): Berries and bark were historically chewed to alleviate toothache and other pains.
Traditional preparations
Traditional texts describe the preparations below, and where those texts give specific amounts, the amounts are quoted here as part of that record. This is a record of historical practice, not a dosage recommendation - the figures are what the sources say, not what HerbMate tells you to take. Amounts, potency, and safe use vary enormously by preparation, plant part, and person.
Dried bark (1:5, 65% alcohol); 5 drops to 1 ml (0.2 tsp.) 3 times daily before meals
1-3 ounces 3 times daily
Safety & precautions
Pregnancy & Lactation: Avoid, as it can stimulate circulation and possibly affect uterine function. General: Considered relatively safe in moderate amounts, but professional guidance is advised if taking regularly.
Drug & food interactions
Interaction data is not available for this herb - talk to a pharmacist before combining it with any medication. A blank entry here means we have not documented interactions, not that none exist.
Habitat
Native to southern Canada and northern/central U.S. regions, prickly ash grows in moist, shady woodland areas. It’s propagated by seed in autumn. The bark is harvested in spring; berries in summer.
Traditionally used for
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Frequently asked questions
What is Prickly ash (Rutaceae) traditionally used for?
Traditional sources describe Prickly ash (Rutaceae) as follows: Circulatory Stimulant & Antirheumatic: Improves blood flow to stiff joints, beneficial for arthritis, rheumatic pain, and poor peripheral circulation (Raynaud’s disease). Carminative & Diaphoretic: Helps relieve gas, mild digestive issues, and promotes sweating in fevers. Alterative (Blood Purifier): Some herbal traditions use it to enhance the removal of waste products. Analgesic (Anodyne): Berries and bark were historically chewed to alleviate toothache and other pains.
How is Prickly ash (Rutaceae) prepared?
Traditional texts describe the preparations below, and where those texts give specific amounts, the amounts are quoted here as part of that record. This is a record of historical practice, not a dosage recommendation - the figures are what the sources say, not what HerbMate tells you to take. Amounts, potency, and safe use vary enormously by preparation, plant part, and person. TINCTURE: Dried bark (1:5, 65% alcohol); 5 drops to 1 ml (0.2 tsp.) 3 times daily before meals STANDARD DECOCTION: 1-3 ounces 3 times daily
What safety cautions apply to Prickly ash (Rutaceae)?
Pregnancy & Lactation: Avoid, as it can stimulate circulation and possibly affect uterine function. General: Considered relatively safe in moderate amounts, but professional guidance is advised if taking regularly.
Related herbs
Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)Black pepper is a perennial woody climbing vine growing to about 16 feet, with large oval leaves, spikes of small white flowers, and clusters of small round fruits that ripen from green to red. Native to southwestern India and now cultivated in tropical areas worldwide, the fruit is harvested from plants that are at least three years old. Different processing methods yield green, black, red, and white peppercorns, each with distinct flavors and uses. Cultivated as both a spice and medicine since ancient times, pepper was such a prized commodity in world trade that Attila the Hun reportedly demanded 3,000 pounds of it as ransom during his siege of Rome in 408 CE.
Clove (Eugenia caryophyllata)Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) consists of the dried, unopened flower buds of an evergreen, pyramid-shaped tree that can reach about 49 ft (15 m) in height. Known for their potent aroma and taste, cloves have a significant history both as a culinary spice and as an herbal medicine - particularly valued in India and Southeast Asia. Clove’s volatile oil, rich in eugenol, has strong anesthetic and antiseptic effects, explaining its traditional use for toothache and oral infections. When applied topically, clove oil can numb local nerve endings, but it must be used with caution due to its irritant nature.
Coleus (Coleus forskohlii)Analgesic (Anodyne) & Antiseptic: Eugenol content helps relieve pain (e.g., toothaches) and kill bacteria. Aromatic & Carminative: Eases digestive discomfort such as gas, bloating, and colic. Counterirritant & Stimulant: Improves local blood flow, especially when used in liniments, and can gently energize the mind/body. Vermifuge: Traditionally used to expel intestinal parasites.
Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus)Fringe tree is a deciduous shrub or tree growing to 33 feet with elliptical dark green leaves, long flowering stems bearing spikes of white flowers, and dark blue oval fruits. Native to the United States and now also found in eastern Asia, it grows from Pennsylvania south to Florida and Texas and thrives on riverbanks and in damp shrubby areas. The root is unearthed in spring or autumn, mostly in Virginia and North Carolina. Native Americans and European settlers commonly used fringe tree to treat inflammations of the eye, canker sores, and spongy gums. The Choctaw of Louisiana applied the mashed bark to cuts and bruises, and Native Americans in Alabama used the bark for toothache. In the 19th-century Anglo-American Physiomedicalist tradition, it was valued as a bitter tonic and was often used to aid recovery from long-term illness.