Zanthoxylum nitidum

Zanthoxylum nitidum is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family. Common names include shiny-leaf prickly-ash. In Assamese it is known as tez-mui and tejamool. It is also called liang mian zhen. Z. nitidum can be found in South China, southeast Asia, and northern Australia. It is one of thirteen Zanthoxylum species found in India. Z. nitidum is a 'morphologically variable' prickly shrub. It is aromatic. It is sometimes a climbing plant. The leaves are made up of several leathery oval leaflets which are up to 12 by 8 centimeters (5 by 3 inches) in size. Flowers, which occur in the leaf axils, have yellow-green petals a few millimeters long. The fruit is a red-brown follicle. Z. nitidum is used as an insecticide and a piscicide. In India and Nepal, the fruits are used as a condiment. Z. nitidum is one several species of Zanthoxylum that are used in traditional medicine in various parts of the world. The plant contains the chemical compounds nitidine, toddalolactone, and chelerythrine. The essential oil, at least from some varieties, contains limonene and geraniol.