What has thorny branches like a rose bush:





And leaves like this:



and grows like a weed in NE TX?

Try looking at the Zanthoxylum family in the data base. Do the leaves emit a strong odor when crushed?

We call it a Hercules Club.

Thanks, all.

I had this one growing in my yard a few years ago: Hercules Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis)

I'm not good at comparing photos but here's one grows in Texas:
Toothache tree (Zanthoxylum hirsutum)
http://www.wildflower.org/plan...

Take good care of that tree, it is a larval host for the Giant swallowtail butterfly

You're right @frostweed! How nice.
We used to have one near the creek, but it died mysteriously, @plantladylin.
Good to have anorher right in my front yard

Yep, Hercules Club is a really important native plant here in South Florida. According to regionalconservation.org:

http://www.regionalconservatio...

"Wildlife and Ecology:
Provides moderate amounts of food and cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) butterflies."