OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Apiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Aralia spinosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-03-001:

Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae

 

COMMON NAME:
Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_811

        

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_arsp2_001_lvd

        

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_arsp2_007_lvd

        

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm160504_477

May    Jackson County    NC

Pulley Park

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm190506_8176

May    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

Gill Newberry    gn06_aralia_spinosa

June        

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm160617_068

June    McCormick County    SC

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm160617_070

June    McCormick County    SC

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm160617_073

June    McCormick County    SC

Leaves glabrous or glabrate [here note the widely spaced trichomes], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm190614_9189

June    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0407k_03

July    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0407z_19

July    Oconee County    SC

Roadside

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0407z_22

July    Oconee County    SC

Roadside

Leaves bipinnately compound, 2 to 4' long; leaflets toothed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0407z_26

July    Oconee County    SC

Roadside

Many-flowered terminal panicles, 3-4' long, appear in late summer, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm160715_298

July    McCormick County    SC

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

Sam Pratt    sbp_3309

July    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0308t_01

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

The trunk has strong prickles, unless quite large, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm120815_905

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Usually 5 stamens; 5 stigmas; 5 styles fused basally, then separate & recurved, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm120815_908

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm170923_p1350947

September    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm200911_7185

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0310g_34

October    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0310g_37

October    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0411a_31

November    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm0511b_36

November    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Fruit is a black drupe with reddish juice, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm081103_043

November    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

Leaf scar nearly encircles twig, often w a row of prickles surrounding it, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick, Hercules-club, Prickly Aralia, Prickly-ash

JK Marlow    jkm081103_044

November    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Aralia spinosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-03-001:
Aralia spinosa   FAMILY Araliaceae

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

117

Shrub; Tree
Perennial
More or less polygamous

Habitat: Disturbed pocosins and bottomlands, disturbed areas, moist to dry forests and woodlands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems armed thoughout with stout broadbased prickles; leaves usually armed also

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Complexly compound, with 2+ levels of pinnate and/or ternate compoundness
Alternate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
White
5 sepals
5 petals
5 stamens, usually
Inferior ovary
Bisexual or staminate

Inflorescence a terminal panicle

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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