''Zanthoxylum piperitum'', also known as Japanese pepper or Japanese prickly-ash is a deciduous aromatic spiny shrub or small tree of the citrus and rue family
Rutaceae, native to Japan and Korea.
It is called sanshō () in Japan and chopi () in Korea. Both the leaves and fruits (peppercorns) are used as an aromatic and flavoring in these countries. It is closely related to the Chinese
Szechuan peppers, which come from plants of the same genus.
Names
"Japanese pepper" ''Z. piperitum''
[ is called in Japan,][ but the corresponding ]cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical e ...
term in Korean, ''sancho'' () refers to a different species, or '' Z. schinifolium''[ known as ''inuzanshō'' or "dog sansho" in Japan.][
In Korea, ''Z. piperitum'' is called ''chopi'' (), with the English common name given as "Korean pepper" by Korean sources.][ However, in several regional dialects, notably ]Gyeongsang dialect
The Gyeongsang dialects (also spelled Kyŏngsang), or Southeastern Korean, are dialects of the Korean language of the Yeongnam region, which includes both Gyeongsang provinces,
North and South. There are approximately 13,000,000 speakers. Unlik ...
, it is also called ''sancho'' or ''jepi'' ().
"Japanese prickly-ash" has been used as the standard American common name.[
]
Varieties
The variety ''Z. piperitum'' var. ''inerme'' Makino, known in Japan as "Asakura zanshō" are thornless, or nearly so, and have been widely cultivated for commercial harvesting.
Range
Its natural range spans from Hokkaido
is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
to Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyu