ARALIACEAE - - Ginseng Family

Aralia spinosa Linnaeus — Devil's-walking-stick

Devil's-walking-stick (Aralia spinosa) also known as Hercules's-club and Prickly-ash, is a tree to 15 m. with very prickly stems; leaves 40-80 cm. long, bipinnate, usually prickly above; leaflets ovate, 5-8 cm. long, acuminate, serrate with small teeth, glaucous and nearly glabrous beneath; petiole to 25 cm. long; flowers small, whitish, in large pubescent panicles 20-35 cm. long, with elongated main axis, 1-3 at end of the branches; pedicels 3-10 mm. long; fruit globose, about 6 mm. across, black. The tree is sparsely branched, especially when young and usually looks like a naked stick in the woods and usually has prominent spines from top to bottom, hence the common name of Devil's-Walking-Stick.

Habitat:

Disturbed pocosins and bottomlands, disturbed areas, moist to dry forests and woodlands.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The native range of Aralia spinosa (Devil's Walking Stick)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Aralia spinosa (Devil's Walking Stick)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.