Plate 080 · branch with fruit and a swallowtail caterpillar IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Conical prickles on branches and trunk.
- 2Toothed leaflets with translucent dots.
- 3Open follicle with a shiny black seed.
- 4Swallowtail caterpillar mimicking a bird dropping.
- 5Grey bark slightly rough.
Easily confused with Andean elderSambucus peruvianaOpposite leaves, no prickles and no strong smell; fruit in clusters of berries. Wild limeZanthoxylum fagaraSmaller leaves with a winged axis and small rounded leaflets. 080 / 100 · PLANTS · RUTACEAELEAST CONCERN Coco prickly ash
Zanthoxylum coco
Cochucho · Coco
A tree with conical prickles on its trunk and branches, and leaves that give off a strong smell when crushed. Its small purple fruits split open to show a shiny black seed. It grows fast in open places in the hills.
- Height
- 4 – 10 m
- Altitude
- up to c. 1,300 m
- Leaf
- 7 – 13 pairs of leaflets
- Fruit
- Oct – Mar
- Prickles
- Aromatic leaf
- Pioneer
- Citrus family
Altitude rangeLower and middle hills
Hill Chaco and Yungas It is common in the hill Chaco and in the Yungas up to about 1,300 m, and sometimes higher. It ranges through the hills from Córdoba and San Luis to Jujuy.
EcologyA prickly pioneer
- Full sunclearings and edges
- Swallowtail caterpillarsfeed on citrus-family leaves
- Birdstake the black seeds
- Insectsvisit the flowers
It is a sun-loving pioneer. It quickly grows into a tree, but it is not long-lived.
Life cycleLong flowering, opening fruit
J F M A M J J A S O N D Flowers and fruitFlowering - Long flowering. It flowers from August to May, with greenish-white flowers of c. 5 mm in large sprays.
- Black seed. From October to March the purple follicles split to show a shiny black seed.
- Prickly defence. Trunk, branches and sometimes the leaf axis carry stout prickles.
Where to look in Tucumán- Sierra de San Javier
- Quebrada de Lules
- Raco
- El Siambón