This attractive shrub suckers readily to form thickets and colonies. It has thorny stems and works well as a wildlife-friendly hedgerow or barrier. Prickly ash is a host plant for the giant swallowtail butterfly whose caterpillars eat the foliage. Bees are the main pollinators.

Prickly ash is dioecious, which means that a single plant has either staminate (male) or pistillate (female) flowers. In order for a pistillate plant to form the showy red fruits, a staminate plant must be nearby.

It has been used medicinally to treat a variety of ailments. Perhaps the most famous use is to soothe toothaches, which is the source of another common name: toothache tree.

Uses:  Butterflies, bees, medicinal, hedgerow

Bloom time:  April - May

Height:  5 to 10 feet

Space:  3 to 5 feet

Sun:  Sun to medium shade

Moisture:  Average to moist