Zanthoxylum simulans, the Chinese-pepper, Chinese prickly-ash or flatspine prickly-ash, is a flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, native to southern and central China, Taiwan, and South Korea. It is one of several species of Zanthoxylum from which Sichuan pepper is produced.
It is a spreading shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall. The leaves are 7âÂÂ12.5 cm long, pinnate, with 7âÂÂ11 leaflets, the leaflets 3âÂÂ5 cm long and 1.5âÂÂ2 cm broad. There are numerous short (3âÂÂ6 mm) spines on both the stems and the leaf petioles, and large (several cm) knobs on the branches. The flowers are produced in slender cymes, each flower about 4âÂÂ5 mm diameter. The 3âÂÂ4 mm berry has a rough reddish brown shell that splits open to release the black seeds from inside.
Two subspecies are accepted.