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prickly ash

 - 5 dictionary results

prickly ash

–noun
1. Also called northern prickly ash, toothache tree. a citrus shrub or small tree, Zanthoxylum americanum, having aromatic leaves and usually prickly branches.
2. Hercules-club (def. 2).

Origin:
1700–10, Americanism

Her⋅cu⋅les-club

[hur-kyuh-leez-kluhb]
–noun
1. Also called Southern prickly ash. a prickly tree, Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, of the rue family, having a medicinal bark and berries.
2. Also called angelica tree, devil's-walking-stick. a prickly shrub, of the ginseng family, Aralia spinosa, having a medicinal bark and root.
Also called prickly ash.


Origin:
1680–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Her·cu·les' club   (hûr'kyə-lēz)   
n.  
  1. A tree or shrub (Aralia spinosa) of the southeast United States, having prickly, bipinnately compound leaves and large clusters of small white flowers. Also called angelica tree, devil's walking stick, prickly ash.

  2. A spiny shrub or tree (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) of the central and southeast United States, having terminal panicles of small greenish-yellow flowers and pinnately compound leaves. Also called pepperwood, Southern prickly ash.


[After the spiny club of Hercules.]
prickly ash  
n.  
  1. Any of numerous cosmopolitan, deciduous or evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Zanthoxylum, having aromatic bark and alternate, mostly pinnate leaves.

  2. See Hercules' club.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

prickly ash

(species Aralia spinosa), prickly-stemmed shrub or tree, of the ginseng family (Araliaceae), that can reach a height of 15 m (about 50 feet). Its leaves are large, with leaflets arranged feather-fashion and often prickly. The angelica tree is native to low-lying areas from Delaware to Indiana, south to Florida, and as far west as Texas.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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