My sansho tree is leafing out

[hoodat]

I planted a sansho tree (Japanese prickly ash) a couple of years ago and it's always so late leafing out I almost think it's dead. the new leaves are just beginning to show. If you aren't familiar with this herb it's called Shichuan pepper if you buy it in the Asian markets and quite expensive. I only have one tree so I don't get the pepper itself (they come in male and female) but the leaves are great in soup. It is a real oddity. If you chew one of the little leaflets you get a tingle on your tongue and until it wears off it intensifies the taste of everything else you eat. It somehow sensitizers your taste buds.

 

[journey11]

What a strange and interesting plant...gonna go google it!

ETA: To quote one source I read:

Only a tortuous soul would wish this plant on another...

Another showed an intrepid little squirrel trying to climb it. He looked a little bit stuck!

 

[hoodat]

You're probably seeing the wild American prickly ash which is a formidable tree indeed. The Asian variety has very small thorns.