Hercules’ Club or Devil’s Walking Stick

Hercules’ Club or Devil’s Walking Stick Aralia spinosa L.

Kingdom- Plantae (plants) • Subkingdom-Travhebionta (Vascular) • Superdivision-Spermaphyta (seed) • Division-Magnoliophyta (flowering) • Class- Magnoliopsida (dicotyldons) • Subclass- Rosidae • Order-Apiales • Family-Arialaceae (ginseng family) • Genus-Aralia L. (spikenard) • Species- Aralia spinosa L.

Shape, Form, Type 10’ to 20’ in height. 6’ to 10’ in width Deciduous tree with a slow growth rate. fig. 1

Bark A light to dark brown. The bark has large moon shaped leaf scars. There are prickles on stout stems. fig. 2

Twig Green twigs branching out to leafs. Approximately a cm in diameter. Most trees have a single trunk with twigs and stems shooting up. fig. 3

Leaf Alternate; two or three compound leaves. Leaves may be 3’ to 6’ long. Dark green in summer. Yellowish in the fall. Each leaf has leaflets that are 2” to 4” long. Oval leaflets that come to a point and have toothed edges. fig. 5 fig. 4

Bud From the bud grows green to brown twigs. The twigs are covered in prickly spines. fig. 6

Flower Small, white petaled, flowers. Grow 3” to 4”. Bloom in late summer, around July. They grow on the ends of the branches. fig. 7

Fruit Following the flowers, in late August, purple-ish berries appear. They are about .25” and grow on burgundy stems. Birds like to eat the berries. fig. 9 fig. 8

Habitat and Range The tree needs rich, moist, acidic soil. It grows in the Eastern US in open woodland areas. fig. 10

Uses Tree can be used as decorative plant where contact with spines wouldn’t occur. Can be put in front of windows to deter burglars. Bark, roots, and berries were used by indigenous Native Americans. Parts of the plant have been used to treat boils, fever, toothache, cholera, eye problems, skin conditions, snakebite, and venereal disease. fig. 11

Resources All found on June 23 and 24, 2010 fig. 1-Tree. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/arsp2.htm fig. 2-Bark. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/arsp2.htm fig. 3-Twig. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/arsp2.htm fig. 4-Leaf. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/a/arsp2-lf25393.htm fig. 5-Leaf. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/a/arsp2-lfleaflet25400.htm fig. 6-Bud. [Web]. Retrieved from http://plants.entrix.com/web_small/a/arali_spi_bud.jpg fig. 7-Flower. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/a/arsp2-fl28848.htm fig. 8-Fruit. [Web]. Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=arsp2_010_avp.tif fig. 9-Fruit. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/a/arsp2-fr29434.htm fig. 10-Map. [Web]. Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ARSP2 fig. 11-Limb. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/aral_spi.cfm

All found on June 23 and 24, 2010 -Usda plant profile. (2010, May 19). Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ARSP2 -Missouri botanical garden. (2001) Retrieved from http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=C294 - Evans, Erv. (n.d.). Trees: araliaspinosa. Retrieved from http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/aralia_spinosa.html -Uconn plant database. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/a/araspi/araspi1.html -Floridata: araliaspinosa(n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/aral_spi.cfm

Hercules’ Club or Devil’s Walking Stick