Product Code Database
Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil's walking stick, is a woody species of plant in the genus Aralia of the family Araliaceae. It is native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles and even leaf midribs. It has also been known as Angelica-tree.
This species is sometimes called Hercules' club, prickly ash or prickly elder. These are common names it shares with the unrelated Zanthoxylum clava-herculis. For this reason, Aralia spinosa is sometimes confused with that species and mistakenly called the toothache tree. It does not have the medicinal properties of Zanthoxylum clava-herculis.
Aralia spinosa is occasionally cultivated for its exotic or tropical appearance because of its large lacy compound leaves. It is closely related to the Asian species Aralia elata, a more commonly cultivated species with which it is easily confused.
The are creamy-white. Each individual flower is small (about across) but produced in a large composite which is long. Flowering is in late summer. The fruit is a purplish-black berry that is in diameter and ripens during fall. The roots are thick and fleshy.
The double or triple compound leaves are the largest of any temperate tree in the continental United States. Each may be about long and wide with leaflets that are long. The petioles are prickly with swollen bases. In the autumn the leaves turn to a peculiar bronze red (touched with yellow) that makes the tree conspicuous and attractive.
The habit of growth and general appearance of Aralia spinosa and related tree-forming Aralia species are unique. It is usually found as a group of unbranched stems, rising to the height of . They bear a crowded cluster of double or triple compound leaves in their canopies, thus giving each stem a certain tropical palm-like appearance. In the south, they are said to reach the height of , still retaining its palm-like looks. Further north, however, the slender, swaying palm-like appearance is most characteristic of younger plants that have not been damaged by winter storms.
This tree was admired by the Iroquois because of its usefulness and for its rarity. The Iroquois would take the saplings of the tree and plant them near their villages and on islands so that animals wouldn't eat the valuable fruit. The fruit was used in many of the natives' foods. The women would take the flowers and put them in their hair because of the lemony smell. The flowers could also be traded for money.
In the past, botanists attributed occurrences of Aralia north of Maryland and Delaware in the Mid-Atlantic states to the introduction of Aralia spinosa from areas to the south. However, some of these occurrences are now known to be of Aralia elata (Japanese Angelica-tree), a related Asian species that is invasive species to the area. A. spinosa and A. elata are difficult to distinguish in the field and leads to confusion. In at least one area of Philadelphia, A. elata is displacing A. spinosa with unknown impacts on the local ecology.
Aralia spinosa was introduced into cultivation in 1688 and is still grown for its decorative foliage, prickly stems, large showy flower (clusters) and distinctive fall color. These plants are slow growing, tough and durable, do well in urban settings, but bear numerous prickles on their stems, petioles, and leaflets. These plants can be propagated from seeds or root cuttings.Poor, Janet Meakin, and Nancy P. Brewster. 1994. Plants that merit attention Vol 2, Shrubs. Portland, OR: Timber Press. Page 34.
Early American settlers used the plant for its alleged properties for curing toothaches. The plant was used as a medicine during the American Civil War. In a laboratory study, extracts from the plant showed antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria associated with wound infections.
|
|
