Zanthoxylum bungeanum Seeds | Sichuan Pepper
LATIN NAME: Zanthoxylum bungeanum
COMMON NAME: Sichuan Pepper
Plant Profile
Sichuan Pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum) grows as a deciduous shrub in the rue family, native to warm hills of the central and the western China, while it is prized for its fine, aromatic capsules. In rue family it is numbing, fragrant spice shrub of warm hills, a plant whose dried capsules carry one of the most famous flavours of the eastern kitchen. Mature plants top out at about Five metres. Bees find the flowers quickly, and that pollinator traffic is a garden benefit in its own right. For the gardener, the sum of these traits is a plant that is easy to live with.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the rue family, Zanthoxylum bungeanum is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. The Sichuan pepper holds a firm place in flavour-science papers of world, and compounds behind famous numbing, tingly sensation of capsules have kept food chemists busy for years. It retains a following among breeders and collectors, which keeps seed stocks in circulation.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Sichuan Pepper earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. In warm garden, the Sichuan pepper is spiny, aromatic shrub of sunny corner. Its small flowers feed insects, spiny, leafy growth gives cover and shelter to birds, and small, round, reddish-brown capsules are gathered and dried for fine cooking of region and the world. Famous numbing flavour has carried it into kitchens far beyond its hills, and it grows well in warm, sunny, well-drained ground. Once it has settled, the workload drops to almost nothing.
Sichuan pepper is the tingling spice of ma-la cuisine, its hydroxy-sanshool the molecule behind the famous numbing buzz, and in Chinese medicine the peel, Hua Jiao, is a warming digestive herb; the thorns once guarded villages.
Growing from Seed
Sichuan Pepper grows readily from seed. Sow the seed evenly over the surface and cover lightly, using a loose, well-drained seed compost, and keep it just moist in bright light until the seedlings are well up. Pot the young plants on as they grow, harden them off gradually, and plant them into their final positions when sturdy.
Our Take
It grows as a deciduous shrub, so its place in the garden is easy to plan. Sun and good drainage cover most of its demands.
Related Reading
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