20 HERCULE’S CLUB TREE SEEDS
(Zanthoxylum clava-herculis)
Zanthoxylum has spikes: All over its trunk and branches. Mythology aside, The Club has been used to treat toothaches for thousands of years, with a natural kind of topical novacaine found in all parts to varying degrees. American natives used The Club, for a range of ailments. A bark decoction was used for venereal disease; the bark, wood and leaves for toothaches, and a decoction of boiled roots was also used to increase perspiration. Indians and settlers mixed the inner bark with bear fat and used it as a poultice for ulcers and a treatment for itches. Ripe berries were seeped in hot water to make a spray used in the mouth and blown on the chest and throat for chest ailments. The bark was also used for inflammations of the throat.
It can reach as high as 17 m (50 feet) it usually grows to a much smaller height, and often looks more like a small shrub than a tree. Normally found along hedgerows, in thickets, and on edges of forests in east Texas but also spreading farther west. Adapted to a wide range of soils and prefers full sun. It likes deep, heavily, alkaline clay soils but will also grow in almost sterile sands. Easy to grow in most any soil.
Zones 7-9
Hercules Club Germination:
1) Pour simmering hot water over seeds and let them soak for 24 hours.
2) Cold stratify by placing inside of a zip lock bag filled with peat moss or vermiculite. Place the seeds inside the fridge for 120 days. Periodically check to be sure they stay moist. Mist with a spray bottle to keep from over wetting them.
3) Plant seeds 1/8″ deep in well draining soil starting mix.
4) Use a heated propagator mat to keep them at 75 degrees F.
5) Expect germination within 2-3 weeks.
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