''Zanthoxylum motuoense'' () is a woody plant from the Rutaceae family and is native to Medog,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Description

''Z. motuoense'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree that can reach 15 meters in height. It is characterized by its thick branches and the 1mm long

thorns Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

that often grow on the side of its

leaf scars A leaf scar is the mark left by a leaf after it falls off the twig. It marks the site where the petiole attached to the stem. A leaf scar is typically found below a branch as branches come from axillary buds located above leaf scars. Formation Le ...

; these thicken at the base and present a cushion. It produces a single leaflet or leaf with 3 or 5 leaflets. The leaflet is broad obovate or broad-elliptic, 3-6 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, the largest in the center, 9 cm long, 6 cm wide, and the ends are often close to round, rarely sharp or wedge-shaped, with finely cracked teeth on the edge of the

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

. Except for oil spots located at tooth gaps, other oil spots are not obvious. Both sides are pubescent, and the hairs on the back of the leaf are dense and long; the leaf shaft has no wings. There are no thorns and a dense coat. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is drawn out at the same time as the new leaves. The infructescence is conical, 4-8 cm long, with short hairs on the peduncle; the fruit petals are oval, about 4.5 mm in diameter, and the oil spots on the pericarp are large and slightly convex; the

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

diameter is about 4 mm. The fruiting period is from September to October.

Habitat

''Z. motuoense'' is seen in the mountain forests, 1100 meters above sea level.

References

motuoense Articles with 'species' microformats {{Rutaceae-stub