Hercules Club, Prickly Ash

This tree is a native of East Texas and ranges westward to the valley of the Colorado River and northward to Dallas and Tarrant Counties, and to some extent, southward to the Rio Grande Valley. It is a small tree, seldom over 30 feet in height, with a short trunk usually under 1 foot in diameter. It seems to prefer a well-drained, light, sandy soil and is often found growing on bluffs near rivers.

The BARK is the most characteristic feature of this tree. It is grey with numerous corky tubercles. The aromatic inner bark, with its strong, pungent juice, has given this tree a number of local names such as the “tingle-tongue” and the “toothache tree”. The inner bark was a favorite in old-time home remedies for the relief of toothache.

The LEAVES are compound, 5 to 8 inches long, with 7 to 17 ovate, toothed, bright green leaflets.

The small pale-green FLOWERS, borne in loose, wide-branched cymes, 4 to 5 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide, bloom in early spring when the leaves are almost half grown. The small FRUIT, a one-seeded carpel, ripens in early summer. The seeds hang outside the carpels and are eaten by birds.

The soft, brown WOOD has no special known value.