Aralia spinosa
DEVIL'S WALKING STICK
SKU: 2026-005
Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil's walking stick or Angelica tree, is native to eastern North America. It is cultivated for its exotic, tropical appearance, having large lacy compound leaves.
Aralia spinosa is an aromatic spiny deciduous shrub or small tree growing 2-8 m (7-26 ft) tall. The trunks are up to 15-20 cm (6-8 in) in diameter, with the plants umbrella-like in habit with open crowns.
The flowers are creamy-white, individually small (about 5 mm or 3/16 in across) but produced in large composite panicles 30-60 cm (12-24 in) long; flowering is in the late summer. The fruit is a purplish-black berry 6-8 mm (1/4-5/16 in) in diameter, ripening in the fall.
The doubly or triply compound leaves are the largest of any temperate tree in the continental United States, often about a meter (three feet) long and 60 cm (two feet) wide. In the autumn the leaves turn to a peculiar bronze red touched with yellow which makes the tree conspicuous and attractive.
Aralia spinosa is widespread in the eastern United States, ranging from New York to Florida along the Atlantic coast, and westward to Ohio, Illinois, and Texas. It prefers a deep moist soil. The plants typically grow in the forest understory or at the edges of forests, often forming clonal thickets by sprouting from the roots.
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.
Hardiness zones: 5-9
Seeds per packet: 5
Note: May be mildly toxic
Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil's walking stick or Angelica tree, is native to eastern North America. It is cultivated for its exotic, tropical appearance, having large lacy compound leaves.
Aralia spinosa is an aromatic spiny deciduous shrub or small tree growing 2-8 m (7-26 ft) tall. The trunks are up to 15-20 cm (6-8 in) in diameter, with the plants umbrella-like in habit with open crowns.
The flowers are creamy-white, individually small (about 5 mm or 3/16 in across) but produced in large composite panicles 30-60 cm (12-24 in) long; flowering is in the late summer. The fruit is a purplish-black berry 6-8 mm (1/4-5/16 in) in diameter, ripening in the fall.
The doubly or triply compound leaves are the largest of any temperate tree in the continental United States, often about a meter (three feet) long and 60 cm (two feet) wide. In the autumn the leaves turn to a peculiar bronze red touched with yellow which makes the tree conspicuous and attractive.
Aralia spinosa is widespread in the eastern United States, ranging from New York to Florida along the Atlantic coast, and westward to Ohio, Illinois, and Texas. It prefers a deep moist soil. The plants typically grow in the forest understory or at the edges of forests, often forming clonal thickets by sprouting from the roots.
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.
Hardiness zones: 5-9
Seeds per packet: 5
Note: May be mildly toxic
