''Zanthoxylum micranthum'' (, xiao hua hua jiao) is a woody plant in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

. It is native to

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

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Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, and

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

provinces in

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Description

''Zanthoxylum micranthum'' is a

deciduous tree In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, afte ...

. It occurs in sloping forests at an altitude of 300–900 meters. It may reach 15 meters in height. Stems and branches have sparse, short, sharp thorns; the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

and upper branchlets have no or few thorns. First-year branches have little pith. All parts are

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, and the leaf shaft often has narrow leaf texture on the ventral surface edge. The leaf has 9–17 leaflets; they are opposite, though not neatly so on the lower part of the leaf shaft. Each is

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, 5–8 cm long, 1–3 cm wide, tapered at the top and long pointed, round or wide at the base. They may be symmetrical or the base of one side may be round and the base of the other slightly wedge-shaped. The underside of the dried leaves is lighter in color; both sides are glabrous, with many oil glands, clearly visible when seen against the light, and the edge of the leaf has blunt or rounded teeth. The midrib is sunken, with 8–12 side veins on each side; the leaflet petiole is 1.5–5 mm long. The inflorescence is terminal and has many flowers, each with 5 sepals and petals. The

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

are wide ovate, about 0.3 mm wide; the petals are yellowish white, 1.5–2 mm long. Male flowers have 5

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

, reaching about 3 mm long. Female flowers have a stubby

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

, three-lobed or undivided, with 3

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

or occasionally 4. The fruit follicles are light purple-red in life, light gray-yellow or gray-brown when dried, with a diameter of about 5 mm. They have no or few awn tips on top, and small oil glands; the seed length does not exceed 4 mm. The tree flowers from July to August,

fruiting In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...

from October to November.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10960235 micranthum