Plant · P-649

Sichuan Pepper

Zanthoxylum simulans

Sichuan Pepper is a deciduous shrub or small tree grown for its dried fruit, a sharper, more pungent condiment than black pepper and one of the components of Chinese five-spice. It tolerates anything from full sun to full shade, unusual for a spice plant, so it can be tucked under taller trees where a sun-hungry crop would fail. It is dioecious, so a lone plant may flower for years and never set a single peppercorn - fruit needs at least one male sited among the females. It also suckers freely, spreading itself into a thicket over time, which is free propagation stock and a self-thickening hedge if wanted, or simply a mown margin away if not.