Araliaceae - Ginseng Family
A Year With the Trees tree No. 11
Devil's Walking Stick
Aralia spinosa
Where to find: At the Botanical Gardens of Asheville, North Carolinahttps://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org
This tree is the only member of this family, Araliaceae, that is native to the United States and the Southeast. The trees in these photos live at the Asheville Botanical Gardens. www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org
These trees are easy to identify this time of the year by the short, sharp spines which are all over the trunk and limbs. You for sure do not want to do much tree hugging with this particular tree; I always save my tree hugging for other trees.
These trees are easy to identify this time of the year by the short, sharp spines which are all over the trunk and limbs. You for sure do not want to do much tree hugging with this particular tree; I always save my tree hugging for other trees.
Winter:
buds and twigs, bark, fruit
Devil's Walking Stick Bark
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| Devil's Walking Stick Bark |
Spring:
leaves, flowers, fruit
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| The shoots of this tree in the spring can be cooked and eaten. I hear they taste asparagus like. |
Summer:
leaves, fruit
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| Devil's Walking Stick, The Botanical Gardens at Asheville. |
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| Devil's Walking Stick, The Botanical Gardens at Asheville. |
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| Devil's Walking Stick in the Summer |
Fall
Leaves
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| Devil's walking stick changing colors |
The Devils Walking Stick
What a great tree for Halloween!!! The very name of this tree sounds like a Halloween story waiting to be told.
This tree has short, sharp spines that will hurt your fingers when you touch the stems of this tree. I think that must be why it is called the Devil's walking stick. For who but the devil himself could walk with sharp spines digging into his hands while using a branch of this tree as a walking stick?
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
Henry David Thoreau
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| The Devil's Walking Stick |
What a great tree for Halloween!!! The very name of this tree sounds like a Halloween story waiting to be told.
This tree has short, sharp spines that will hurt your fingers when you touch the stems of this tree. I think that must be why it is called the Devil's walking stick. For who but the devil himself could walk with sharp spines digging into his hands while using a branch of this tree as a walking stick?
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
Henry David Thoreau
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| Happy Halloween |
For the love of the trees, Becky
