Zanthoxylum clava-herculis (toothache tree) is blooming. While not all that showy, it does attract a wide variety of pollinators. Like the bee in one of these photos. The tree is aromatic. Anyone ever do a hit of toothache tree? Crazy stuff. A wild ride for salivary glands and tingling for your mouth. The bark is incredible. Plus one more. Originally I wanted a planting of red buckeye with white oak leaf hydrangea. Too many problems with the oak leaf, but if it would have worked out, this is what I wanted. "It is better to be the tooth than the grass" Victor Hugo/Les Miserables (1862)
We have Devil's Walking Stickk (aralia spinosa) here in Texas that looks a lot like your Toothache Tree. It would seem both are "cat proof"!
Anything that attracts Bees and Butterflies is fine by me,..we don't have a Toothache Tree this side of the pond but i would say humans and bees compete for its juices. Those are lethal looking thorns.
I've never seen bark like that on a tree before. It actually looks as though it's growing teeth!! I'm happy to see that it attracts lots of pollinators with its blossoms.
Did someone say Aralia spinosa? Spinosa is probably my favorite small tree. I have about 10 at The Island Oasis. If you want fruit for the birds, this trees for you. Everything about this tree is over the edge. Interested, visit the web site of mail-order natives.
I've never seen either of those trees... or any tree with a trunk/bark like that. Sure would be good to place by a teen-ager's window. No one would be climbing up or down those!
