Zanthoxylum culantrilo Kunth in Humb., Bonpl. & Kunth., Nov. Gen. Sp. 6: 2. 1823; Z. fagara ssp. culantrilo (Kunt) Reynel

Arbustos, treelets o árboles, 1–10 (15) m de alto, troncos y ramas armados de acúleos, ramitas rarely with few straight or slightly downward curving spines, short-shoots elongating to form lateral branches, only slightly zig-zag growth form; apical bud ca 1 mm wide, glabrous; ramitas 0.5-2 mm wide, glabrous (rarely scurfy-lepidote). Hojas alternately evenly distributed, imparipinnadas, 3-12 cm de largo; rachis margined to winged 0.6-2 (4) mm wide;  folíolos (5) 7 or 9, lateral leaflets elípticos (narrow oblanceolate), 1-5 cm de largo y 0.5-2.5 cm de ancho, ápice rounded- to obtuse-emarginate (acute-emarginate), base acute, margen crenado, slightly revolute at base, most lateral leaflets with at least proximal basal glandular tooth well developed, 0.3--1 mm long, extending parallel to rachis, scurfy-lepidote when young, glabrous or slighlty puberulent at base, chartaceous, 3-6 pairs of secondary veins, más o menos sésiles. Spicate-panicles terminales y axilares, 2-5 cm de largo, 1 or 2 times branched, rachis terete, glabras; flowers sessile, 4-merous, sépalos ovate, 1/3 length of pétalos, glabrous, persistent; pétalos 1-1.7 mm de largo; carpels 2. Folículo 1, 2, or 1 and one lost leaving scar (or with aborted carpel remaining), free, 3.3-4 mm de largo, glabrous, stipe 0-0.5 mm de largo; seed 2.5-3 mm long.

Común, en bosques secos a muy húmedos en las zonas norcentral y pacífica; 80–1300 m; fl ago–feb, fr ene–mar, jun–dic; Moreno 17965, 19346; ampliamente distribuida desde el sur de México hasta Argentina, Puerto Rico y en las Antillas Menores. "Chinche." Specimens treated here as Zanthoxylum culantrilo were treated in the printed Flora de Nicaragua as Z. caribaeum, a species with 5-merous flowers, terete leaf rachis and a somewhat corky inflorescence axis, cracking transversally and exfoliating in scales. The name Z. culantrilo was applied in the printed Flora de Nicaragua to specimens treated here as Z. fagara. Zanthoxylum fagara (treated by Reynel 1995 as Z. fagara ssp. fagara) differs from Z. culantrilo in the branchlets having numerous curved spines versus few straight spines, the leaflets obovate vs. usually elliptic and the inflorescences small and simple or only once branched. Zanthoxylum culantrilo was placed by Reynel (1995) under the infraspecies of Z. fagara based on Fagara lentiscifolia Humb. ex Bonpl. ex Willd. Reynel’s infraspecic concept is broad and it also seems more conservative to treat this taxon at the species level. The name Z. culantrilo is applied in Nicaragua with hesitation; the specimens from Nicaragua (also Honduras and southern Chiapas) differ from others in the combination of glabrous inflorescences and sepals and in having smaller sepals and follicles. Specimens from Nicaragua (and Honduras and southern Chiapas) differ from both Z. fagara and other collections of Z. culantrilo in having most leaflets with the basal proximal glandular tooth projecting parallel to the leaf rachis; in the other specimens the basal teeth when present are folded over the abaxial surface of the leaflet forming a small pocket. The floral buds when diseased (such as Coronado 4434) may resemble the follicles of Zanthoxylum aguilarii Standl. & Steyerm. Zanthoxylum aguilarii (seen from Chiapas, Guatemala and Honduras, 900—2000 m and treated by Reynel,1995, as an unpublished subspecies of Z. fagara), differs from our specimens of Z. culantrilo in having larger, spiny follicles, inflorescences weakly puberulent and tending to exfoliate in ferruginous scales, and the basal teeth of the leaflets folded over their abaxial surfaces.