Banko Janakari, Vol 29 No. 1, 2019 Pp 62‒63

62

Rajbhandari and Amatya

Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.), a new record for Nepal
K. R. Rajbhandari1* and G. Amatya2 

1.  G. P. O. Box 9446, Kathmandu, Nepal. *E-mail : krrajbhandari@yahoo. com 
2  Tahachal, Kathmandu, Nepal

Zanthoxylum L. is a genus belonging to the 
family Rutaceae. It is represented by 200 or 
more species distributed in the pantropical 

region and extending to the temperate latitudes in 
E. Asia and E. North America. It is characterized 
by evergreen or deciduous shrubs, trees or woody 
climbers, leaves alternate, odd-pinnately 3- to 
many foliolate or sometimes digitately 3-foliolate, 
inflorescence panicle, fruit follicular (Zhang and 
Hartley, 2008). Eight species of Zanthoxylum 
have been reported from Nepal (Press, 1979; 
Press et al., 2000; Phuyal, 2011; Rajbhandari et 
al., 2015). Recently, a specimen of Zanthoxylum 
collected from Surkhet district of west Nepal has 
been identified as Zanthoxylum rhetsa, (Fig. 1) 
This species has not been reported before from 
Nepal and is a new addition to the flora of Nepal. 

Fig.1 Herbarium specimen of Zanthoxylum rhetsa

Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC. Prodr. 1 : 728 
(1824). 

Fagara rhetsa Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1 : 438 (1820).  

Nepali name : Rukhboke Timur, Gaai Simal 
Rukh.  

English name : Indian Pepper, Indian Prickly Ash. 

Evergreen or deciduous trees, up to 25 m high; 
main trunk with conical prickles; branchlets 
sparsely prickly. Leaves alternate, compound, 
paripinnate or imparipinnate, 30-45 cm long; 
petiole and rachis usually prickly; leaflets 5-33, 
opposite and subopposite, ovate-oblong or 
lanceolate, base oblique, apex caudate-acuminate, 
acumen 1. 5-3 cm long, margin entire to remotely 
crenate with glands in sinuses of crenatures, 
7-19 x 3. 0-6. 5 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, 
glabrous; petioles 2-7 mm long. Panicles terminal 
or pseudoterminal (from uppermost leaf axil), 
10-25 cm long, peduncle and axes glabrous to 
puberulent, sometimes prickly. 

Male flowers 1. 5-2. 5 mm long; pedicels 1-2 
mm long; sepals 4, ovate-triangular, obtuse, 
subentire or fimbriate along margins; petals 4, 
valvate, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, white or creamy 
yellow; stamens 4; anthers oblong, yellow; disk 
pulvinate; pistillode solitary. Female flowers 
1. 5-2. 5 mm long; pedicels, sepals, petals as in 
male flowers; staminodes absent; disk pulvinate; 
gynoecium 1-carpellate; stigma truncate; fruiting 
pedicels 1-4 mm long; follicles single, globose, 
apiculate, 5-7 mm across; seeds globose, 4-6 mm 
across, bluish-black. 

Distribution : India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, 
Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam Philippines, 
Indonesia. 

Short Note



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Rajbhandari and Amatya

Ecology : Occurs in the forest; 950-1100 m. 

Fl. : April - June. 

Fr. : Sept. -Nov. 

Specimen examined : West Nepal : Surkhet 
district, Chaukunne Rural Municipality, 28o52’N, 
81o20’E, 996 m, 2018. 9. 15, G. Amatya s. n. 
(KATH). 

Use : Fruits are used as a spice. The wood is used 
for light construction of agriculture tool handle. 
Leaves are used for livestock fodder in acute 
shortage period. 

References

Phuyal, N. 2011. Rutaceae. In : Catalogue of 
Nepalese flowering plants – 2 : Dicotyledons 
(Ranunculaceae to Dipsacaceae) (eds). 
Rajbhandari, K. R., Bhattarai, K. R. and 
Baral, S. R. (eds.), National Herbarium and 
Plant Laboratories, Department of Plant 
Resources, Godawari, Lalitpur, Nepal, 
63‒65. 

Press, J. R. 1979. Rutaceae. In : Hara, H. and 
Williams, L. H. J. (eds.), An enumeration 
of the flowering plants of Nepal Vol. 
2. British Museum (Natural History), 
London, 81‒83. 

Press, J. R., Shrestha, K. K. and Sutton, D. A. 
2000. Annotated Checklist of the Flowering 
Plants of Nepal. Natural History Museum, 
London. 

Rajbhandari, K. R., Bhatt, G. D., Chhetri, R. and 
Rai, S. K. 2015. Catalogue of Nepalese 
flowering plants Supplement 1. National 
Herbarium and Plant Laboratories, 
Department of Plant Resources, Godawari, 
Lalitpur, Nepal. 

Zhang, D. and Hartley, T. G. 2008. Zanthoxylum 
L. In : Flora of China Vol. 11 (eds) Wu, Z., 
Raven, P. H. and Hong, D., Science Press, 
Beijing, China and Missouri Botanical 
Garden Press, St. Louis, U. S. A., 51‒66.