Zanthoxylum NITIDUM

Zanthoxylum NITIDUM - Shining prickly-ash, Zanthoxylum nitidum, Prickly ash.

Can be grown in bonsai style.

Zanthoxylum is a genus of woody plants in the family Rutaceae. They are trees, shrubs, or lianas. Stems are glabrous or pubescent, sometimes armed with prickles and thorns. Leaves are alternate, pinnate. Flowers are small, yellowish-greenish or white, bisexual or unisexual. The perianth is simple or double, consisting of a 3-5-lobed calyx and a 3-5-petaled corolla, 3-5 stamens, and a pistil with 1-5 styles. The fruit is a bivalved capsule. Seeds are globose.

Shining prickly-ash is a small shrub or woody climber with small prickles on the branches and stout conical spines on the trunk and older branches, pinnate leaves with five to nine leaflets, and panicles or racemes of white to pale yellow male or female flowers in the leaf axils and at the branch tips.

Before planting, seeds are stratified for up to 90 days or scarified, soaked for 24 hours, then sown on the surface in a well-drained substrate and covered with a thin layer of soil. They are moistened from a spray bottle, covered with film or glass, and germinated in the light at a temperature of 20-24 °C (68-75 °F). Seedlings require ventilation. Waterlogging and desiccation of the sowings must be avoided. Seeds can take up to 6-12 months to germinate.

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In nature, Zanthoxylum grows in tropical and subtropical regions and is quite warmth-loving. In winter, an optimal temperature is 16-18 °C (61-64 °F), with a minimum of 14 °C (57 °F) (it does not tolerate frost or drafts). In summer, Zanthoxylum is placed outdoors under light shade. It loves bright diffused light with some direct sun (shading is needed only during midday hours). Soil mix: 2 parts turf soil, 1 part leaf mold, 1 part humus, 1 part sand (fine expanded clay, vermiculite). Or a commercial potting soil for citrus plants plus loosening agents (expanded clay, vermiculite, fine gravel).

Watering is generous from spring to autumn; in winter it is watered much less frequently, but soil desiccation should not be permitted. Roots can rot from excess dampness, leaves drop with insufficient watering, and if the plant is overdried, it can perish. It dislikes watering with hard water. Zanthoxylum requires very high humidity, so it is sprayed regularly. It tolerates a weekly warm shower well (as a preventive measure against spider mites). From April to September, it is fed with a balanced fertilizer for houseplants. Feeding is carried out weekly.