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Tickle Tongue Tree: Prickly Ash, Nature’s Oral Anesthetic

The “tickle tongue” tree with numbing bark and big thorns is prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum). Native Americans and settlers used it for toothaches. It’s not ornamental, just a fascinating native plant.

About Gardening: Plum Tree Jelly Exudate: Borer Activity and Organic Needle Treatment; Diagnosing Bark Peeling and Leaf Loss in Birch Trees; Slow-Growing Tree with Burnt Leaves in Texas Hill Country; Palm Tree with Curling Leaves and Crown Rot: Freeze Damage Likely Fatal—Monitor for Pests, Consider Removal; Outdoor Ficus benjamina Leaf Drop, White Powder on Bark: Root/Soil Stress, Likely Scale or Woolly Aphids—Nursery ID Needed; Mimosa Wilt: Rapid Death and Containment Strategy; Diagnosing Apple Tree Fruit and Leaf Problems; Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum hirsutum); Siris Tree (Albizia lebbeck): Fast-Growing Tropical Shade with Rattle Pods; Mulberry Tree: Birds Love It, Cars Hate It

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