With hybrid plants in general you will often see traits that differ from both parents in addition to intermediate traits due to unique gene combinations not found in either parent. If they are apomictic it will be very challenging to hybridize even if intentionally pollinated by the other species.
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I just took a look at observations on iNaturalist. Assuming the idās are correct there are some observations from China marked as Z. simulans which show the flower clusters in bloom and itās clear to see they are staminate instead of pistilate. In other words they are male.
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If some plants only have male flower and other plants only female flowers, sounds like (based on my limited reading)ā¦a Dioecious reproduction system but females are also capable of apomictic reproduction (cloning themselves in absence of male pollen).
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Apomictic doesnāt mean they only clone themselves in the absence of male pollen. Apomictic plants can clone themselves even if pollen is available. Thatās why it can be so hard to do plant breeding with apomictic plants. The apomictic embryos simply arenāt receptive to pollination.
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Iām assuming apomictic Sechuan plants are pure female based on the discussion here. If Apomictic plants have tendency to clone themselves, Iād expect ever generations, this tendency would strip the species of pollen producing plants. Do you think the apomictic Sechuan plants are hermaphrodites?
I saw no pollen on mine. However, just because the cultivated genotype is apomictic doesnāt mean that all wild female specimens of the same species are apomictic. In the related Citrus apomixis varies between cultivars with some producing almost exclusively by apomixis and others rarely or not at all. When brought into cultivation Z. simulans may have accidentally been selected for apomixis on account of it causing reliable fruit set.
Also, in at least some of the Zanthoxylum species āmaleā plants are actually weakly hermaphrodite and still produce a small number of fruits and seeds.
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I have quite a few Prickly Ash, Zanthoxylum americanum which the birds seem to sow. Iāve never paid attention to the pollination specifics, but now Iām curious if that trait is common to the genus. I have never tried Sechuan pepper, but from descriptions the fruit/seed seem to have the same numbing effect , so the other name ātoothache treeā. They certainly appear similar with the nasty thorns and pinnate foliage.
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I thought my Szechuan pepper was a pure female with no pollen produced, but now I have photo documentation for it. It is for sure female and not hermaphrodite and yet it still sets full crops without pollination so it is definitely parthenocarpic and producing clonal seed.
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How old is your Szechuan pepper before it fruited?
It fruited the first year I owned it and it was a young 1gal pot size.
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I just transplanted one in ground with caliper of a pencil and didnāt see any fruit yet. BTW these pepper plants are not the most vigorous growers for me. Hows the vigor for you?
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Mine has had reasonably good vigor. Does yours maybe need a little fertilizer?
I have some fruit trees that grow several feet of new growth per year. The pepper plants new growth measures less than 1 feet. I do baby my fruit trees more than the pepper plants though so that could be a major factor. How much new growth do you measure a year?
I didnāt measure, but Iām sure it grew more than a foot each for multiple branches.
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Just harvested this yearās crop of Sichuan pepper. Can confirm that females will produce a full crop on their own. I do have a male sansho but bloom times donāt overlap by much in my area. Itās an easy, carefree tree with a good amount of drought tolerance. We donāt get any rain here during the summer, and it does fine with me running the sprinklers once a month.
Harvesting is a pain though, literally, and separating the seeds from the hulls is a little tricky.
They fruit on little spurs which form on wood thatās 2 years old or so.
I pick them when a few of the pods are just splitting. They will split naturally as they dry.
Current year growth is the unbranched stuff that looks like rose canes. 2+ feet of growth this year.
I dry the pods on trays and let them open up and expose the seeds.
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The Prickly Ash suckers prolifically. Does the Asian species? Also, Iām guessing you grind just the seeds, or do you include the dried berries?
Iām not sure whether or not the seeds can be used. The red skin thatās around the seeds is full of the flavorful oil that is characteristic of this species.
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Thanks Johan. Iāve read different things, and what you are saying makes the most sense to me. The fruit is popular with some birds here and I think itās because of the oil. The extra calories help build fat reserves for migration. Most of the fruit will be gone in a few days after the red eyed vireos discover them.
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My Sichuan pepper sends up new shoots from the base of the trunk. I think it wants to be a multistemmed tree. My sansho has not suckered at all.
The seeds can be ground with the rest of the fruit, but their texture is unpleasantly gritty and so are usually picked out. If you buy Sichuan pepper, only the cheapest grades have any seeds.
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I landed on this website cause I also had this question about male &female trees. I planted Zanthoxylum peperitum and Zanthoxilum armatum , both are still to flower for the first time. // I now find limited online information saying that these species have apomictic reproduction. This would mean that the flowers bypass polination and produce a seed anyway. Yet I hope read more about this from people who have experience with themā¦I understand that it is still important to not get stick with a male tree however ā¦
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