Oplopanaxhorridus - Devil's Club Prefers Shady and Moist Areas
When you have respect for the devil's club, you will soon see it as a plant of beauty and soon handle it with care. Read on to find more about this topic.
The name has connotations that can be immediatelyunderstood once you encounter the plant. We are referring to the devil's club (Oplopanaxhorridus),
of course, which many hikers in the PacificNorthwest have come to fear and respect lest it asserts its spiky thorns yet again. Grabbing this plant, much less crawling, charging and otherwise going to battle against it, is strongly inadvisable because the sliver-size needles will be deeply embedded in the skin; painful removal using tweezers and small knives can take days.
But when you have respect for the devil's club, you will soon see it as a plant of beauty and soon handle it with care. Its maple-like green leaves are certainly large at 6 to 15 inches in diameter that, when coupled with its long, stiff and yellow thorns, make it a giant among plants. During the autumn season, its leaves turn yellow and then fall off in winter, thus, leaving behind its stems with its stiff thorns; gardeners call it the devil's walking stick, an alternate name for the plant.
It is during the spring time that the devil's club truly blossoms into a plant of beauty. The white flower cluster slowly but boldly matures into a bright red cluster filled with berries. The vibrant leaves form a strong background to the equally vibrant red berries in a show of earthly beauty that belies its devilish name.
The devil's club is easily distinguishable from the rest of the foliage during the spring and summer months - just look for the giant leaves and the red berry clusters. In the autumn and winter, however, it is so easy to run into it because of its ability to blend in with the surrounding bushes like the salmonberry. The plant can even be buried in the snow and woe to the person who steps on the spikes.
In the wild, hikers know that the presence of a cluster of devil's club plants signal the boundaries of a wet place. It can either be a bog or a swamp but one thing is clear - the devil's club prefers wet to moist areas with plenty of shade.
Lest you start having second thoughts about the devil's club, don't. When you know how to handle it properly, you will come to appreciate its beauty, not to mention its herbal properties. Use it as a thorny living fence, if you will.
The best way to propagate the devil's club is through suckers and root cuttings. Seeds are not advisable as these take 2 years to sprout.
