hercules-club

CIDE DICTIONARY

hercules-club, prop. n. 

•  A densely spiny ornamental tree (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) of the rue family, growing in southeast U. S. and West Indies.

  "It belongs to the same genus as one of the trees (Zanthoxylum Americanum) called prickly ash."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small, prickly, deciduous clump-forming tree or shrub (Aralia spinosa) of eastern U.S.; also called Angelica tree and prickly ash.  [1913 Webster]
•  A variety of the common gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris). Its fruit sometimes exceeds five feet in length.  [1913 Webster]