Devil’s Walking-stick
Aralia spinosa
Click or tap the section titles below to learn more about this species!
CLASSIFICATION: What’s in a name?
Scientific Name: Aralia spinosa. The epithet, spinosa, refers to the spines which cover much of the plant.
Common Name: Devil’s Walking-stick. This common name is an apt description of this spiny plant, as anyone who has inadvertently grabbed a trunk while hiking can attest! Other common names include Hercules’ Club and Angelica Tree.
Family: Araliaceae (Ginseng family). This family contains a number of herbaceous and woody species, which have 5-petaled flowers usually in umbels, and fleshy fruit. Familiar examples include English ivy (Hedera helix) and ginseng (Panax spp.)3
IDENTIFICATION: What does it look like?
Average Height: 8-25 feet
Description: A colony-forming large shrub or small tree, with very few branches. The leaves are massive and compound, with multiple divisions, the final leaflets are oval and have toothed margins. The trunks, branches, leaf stalks, and veins on the underside of the leaves all bear sharp prickles. Flowers are white and borne in large panicles from the tops of the stems in summer. In the fall, they become small black drupes.
Bloom time: Jun – Aug
Notes: This species is very similar to a non-native, Japanese Angelica Tree (A. elata). It can be distinguished from A. spinosa by having a flower cluster that is wider than tall and smaller in size. Japanese Angelica Tree has been found as an escape from cultivation in the Washington D.C. metro area and may be overlooked elsewhere.1
LOCATION: Where is it at home?
Range: Widespread in Virginia, but most common in the Coastal Plain, becoming less frequent as one moves westwards.1 A southeastern species, found from southern New York to Florida and west to east Texas.2
Geology/Soil: Found on a wide variety of geologic types. Most frequent in moist, loamy or sandy soils.
Habitat: Forest edges, clearings, powerlines, thickets, understories of mesic slope forests and oak-hickory forests.6
CONNECTIONS: What are its relationships to other plants, animals, and humans?
Flora associations: Occurs with a wide variety of herbaceous and woody species across its native range. Frequent associates in the Virginia Piedmont include oaks (Quercus spp.), tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), American holly (Ilex opaca), autumn bentgrass (Agrostis perennans), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), and hayscented fern (Sitobolium punctilobulum).
Fauna associations: The fruit are a highly valuable food source for songbirds during their fall migration, in particular the thrushes (Turdidae). The foliage is also browsed by elk (Cervus canadensis), and is reported to be a host for a moth, Dichomeris juncidella.4,5
Human associations: This plant has a long history of medicinal use by the Indigenous people who call its range home. These uses include as an emetic, and eye medicine, and as a salve for boils and sores.8
We want these plants to thrive and for everyone who gets to visit the park to enjoy them, so remember – don’t pick flowers or other parts of the plant!!
Bibliography & Definitions
1 Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, , pp. 1155-1157.
2 “2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps.” Bonap.net, 2014, bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Aralia. Accessed 21 May 2024.
3 “Araliaceae | Plant Family | Britannica.” Www.britannica.com, www.britannica.com/plant/Araliaceae.
4 Hilty, John. “Aralia Spinosa (Insect Feeders).” Www.illinoiswildflowers.info, www.illinoiswildflowers.info/plant_insects/plants/aralia_spinosa.html. Accessed 21 May 2024.
5 “Aralia Spinosa (Vertebrate Animals).” Www.illinoiswildflowers.info, www.illinoiswildflowers.info/plant_animals/plants/aralia_spinosa.html. Accessed 21 May 2024.
6 LeGrand, Harry, et al. “Vascular Plants of North Carolina.” Ncparks.gov, 2019, auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/species_account.php.
7 Virginia Botanical Associates. “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora | Aralia Spinosa L.” Www.vaplantatlas.org, www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=1806&search=Search. Accessed 21 May 2024.
8 “BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database.” Naeb.brit.org, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=aralia+spinosa. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Definitions:
Umbel: An umbrella-shaped flower cluster, with multiple stems arising from the same point and curving upwards.
Compound leaf: A leaf that is divided into several leaflike divisions, called leaflets. A compound leaf may appear to be several leaves, but the whole will come from a single bud.
Panicle: An elongated cluster of flowers with multiple branches, where the flowers bloom starting at the bottom and moving upwards.
Drupe: a fleshy fruit with a single hard seed (stone). Plums, peaches, and cherries are familiar examples of drupes.