Hercules Club — Zanthoxylum clava-hercules | The Cajun Spice Tree

Grow your own Louisiana spice. There is nothing else like it.

This is the rarest and most remarkable tree in the collection. Hercules Club — also called the Toothache Tree — is a true Gulf Coast native with a culinary history as deep as any plant in Louisiana. The bark, leaves, and berries contain hydroxy-alpha-sanshool, the same compound found in Sichuan pepper — a citrusy, numbing tingle that Cajun folk healers used for toothaches and that adventurous chefs are rediscovering in modern Louisiana kitchens.

Chew a small piece of leaf. You will feel it immediately. It is unlike anything in any spice aisle.

Hercules Club is also the exclusive larval host plant for the Giant Swallowtail — the largest butterfly in North America. Plant one and you will have Giant Swallowtails nesting in your yard every year.

Why It Belongs in Your Victory Garden

You cannot buy this experience at any grocery store. You cannot import it. It grows here, in Louisiana, in your yard, and nowhere else on Earth is quite right for it. That is the definition of a Victory Garden plant.

Growing Notes

• USDA Zone: 7–9 ✅ South and Central Louisiana
• Mature Size: 15–25 ft — manageable size for any yard
• Light: Full sun to part shade
• Soil: Well-drained, sandy to loam — tolerates poor soils
• Harvest Season: Bark and berries year-round
• Wildlife Value: Giant Swallowtail exclusive larval host; important pollinator tree

Extremely rare in cultivation. Big Mamou Enterprises is one of very few Louisiana sources.