Texas Witchery

Texas Hercules’ Club

Zanthoxylum hirsutum

This remarkable tree is closely related to the source of the Sichuan pepper– not a true pepper or peppercorn, but rather a boreal fruit, the genus belonging to the citrus family Rutaceae. It too carries the distinctive scent and flavour of the Sichuan pepper. The tree is easy to identify– thorny, with ruffly orange-tree-like leaves that, when crushed, smell strongly of citrus peel. As the genus name, Zanthoxylum, implies (Greek for ‘yellow wood’), it, like the agarita and prickly poppy, contains berberine, an alkaloid of significant pharmacological interest.

Both the leaves and bark contain a rather strong local anaesthetic. A common name for this tree is ‘toothache tree’, referring to the use of a chunk of the tree’s bark to soothe the pain of a toothache by numbing the gums. This action comes from one of the tree’s most interesting and unique chemical components, a compound called hydroxy alpha sanshool, an agonist at pain-integrating cation channels TRPV1 (burning pain) and TRPA1 (itching pain). 

Since this tree is mainly limited to Texas, there is more ethnobotanical data on its close relative, Z. americanum. The Alabama used a decoction of the bark as a wash for itch, and packed the inner bark around a painful or cavity-filled tooth to numb the area before removing said tooth. The Cherokee used an infusion of the plant as a wash for swollen joints. The Chippewa used a bark infusion for cough, cold, and other respiratory ailments; gargled a decoction of the root for sore throat; and used a similar root decoction as a wash to strengthen the legs of a weak child. The Comanche applied the powdered root to burns, and used a bark infusion for fever. The Creek rubbed an infusion of the bark on a dog’s nose to sharpen its sense of smell before a hunt. The Delaware used an infusion of the inner bark for heart trouble. The Iroquois took a decoction of bark as an abortifacient, to treat cramps, and as an anthelmintic, and an infusion of the root for when urine stops due to gonorrhoea infection. The Menominee used an infusion of the berries as a flavouring agent in medicines, a poultice of the pounded inner bark for rheumatism and sharp pains, a decoction of the inner bark for a chest cold, and spit an infusion of the berries onto sores or onto the chest for bronchial ailments. The Meskwaki used the bark and berries to make an expectorant cough syrup and to treat tuberculosis. The Mohegans used an infusion of the bark three days on and three days off to treat heart disease. The Ojibwa applied an infusion of the berries to the chest for bronchial congestion and treated tonsillitis and sore throat with a bark decoction. The Pawnee used the fruits as a diuretic for horses. The Potawomi used the root bark to treat gonorrhoea.

To make a tea, boil two grams dried inner bark per one cup boiling water, steep fifteen minutes, and strain. For a tincture, add one part powdered bark to five parts whiskey or brandy, and take ½ to 1 teaspoon three times a day.

The small red berries may be picked and dried until the thin skins split to reveal the seeds– those may then be discarded, as they are tough and inedible. The husks may then be ground coarsely to yield a Sichuan pepper-like spice which may be used to make a five-spice blend or on its own. If you desire a smokier, roasted flavour, you may toast the husks lightly in a frying pan before grinding. 

Not much data on magical uses is available, though I see the Texas Hercules’ club being a great symbol of invincibility. Carrying pieces of it with you as an amulet may help you get through a difficult task, just as Hercules was protected by his lion skin and club. I associate it with the god Hercules, the element Fire, the Sun, and the astrological sign Sagittarius.