Rutaceae - syn.Zanthoxylum clavaherculis L.; Xanthoxylum americanum; prickly ash, northern prickly ash

Aromatic shrub or small tree, native to central and eastern North America.

"The wood is not commercially valuable, but oil extracts from the bark have been used in traditional and alternative medicine, and have been studied for antifungal and cytotoxic properties... The bark has been chewed for toothaches, and a tea from the berries has been used for sore throats and as a diuretic." [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_americanum]]

HPLC analysis show that extracts from Z.americanum contain furano- and pyranocoumarins like xanthyletin, xanthoxyletin, alloxanthoxyletin, psoralen, 8-methoxypsoralen and imperatorin. "... the traditional uses of this plant for skin infections and sores have a pharmacological basis. The allocation of furanocoumarines to the aerial parts of this plant explain the preferentially use of these plant parts." [Bafi-Yeboa, Nana Fredua A. Phytochemical & Pharmacological Properties of Northern Prickly Ash, Zanthoxylum Americanum Mill.(Rutaceae). University of Ottawa, 2003]
[[http://www.ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/26355/1/MQ79323.PDF]]