Where are the main production areas of Sichuan pepper?
The production areas of Sichuan pepper extend from southern Northeast China in the north, to the northern slopes of the Five Ridges in the south, to the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the southeast, and to southeastern Tibet in the southwest; it is not produced in Taiwan, China, Hainan and Guangdong. It is found from plains to relatively high-altitude mountainous areas; in Qinghai, it is found on slopes at an altitude of 2500 m, and is also cultivated.
Sichuan pepper is suited to warm, humid conditions and deep, fertile loam and sandy loam. It has strong suckering ability, is cold-tolerant and drought-tolerant, likes sunlight, has strong disease resistance, and its dormant buds have a long lifespan, so it tolerates heavy pruning. It is not tolerant of waterlogging; short-term water accumulation can cause death.
Oil-leaf Sichuan pepper
The leaflets have oil dots visible to the naked eye; after drying, the oil dots are slightly raised, and the leaf rachis, infructescence and mericarps are reddish brown after drying. Fruiting period is July-August. On the back of the leaflets, there are tufts of hairs on both sides of the base of the midvein, and the rest is hairless; moreover, apart from the oil dots on the leaf margin, the rest of the leaflets have no oil dots.
Oil-leaf Sichuan pepper is produced in western Sichuan (Tianquan, Eshan and other places), in mountain sparse forests at an altitude of 2000-2500 m.
Hairy-leaf Sichuan pepper
New young branches, leaf rachis, inflorescence rachis and both surfaces of the leaflets are covered with soft hairs, sometimes the fruit stalks and the ventral surface of the leaflets are hairless. This variety is divided into two types: one type has thin papery leaflets, and after drying the two surfaces are obviously different in color, the leaf back is pale grayish white, and the fruit stalks are slender and elongated; the other type has thick papery leaflets, the leaf surface and fruit stalks are hairless, the lateral veins are sunken on the leaf surface forming fine fissure-like grooves, the two surfaces of the leaflets are nearly the same color, reddish brown after drying, and the fruit stalks are relatively thick. Flowering period is May-June, fruiting period is October-November.
Hairy-leaf Sichuan pepper is produced in Qinghai (Xunhua), Gansu, southern Shaanxi, and western and northwestern Sichuan (Li County, Heishui, Mao County, Baoxing and other counties). It is found in mountainous areas at an altitude of 2500-3200 m.