Devil's Club
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 Flower and bumblebees
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| Oplopanax horridus (Sm.) Miq. |
Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus, Araliaceae; syn. Echinopanax horridus, Fatsia horrida) is a large shrub native to the Pacific Northwest coastal forests of North America noted for its large palmate leaves and erect, woody stems covered in brittle spines. Also known as Devil's Walking Stick, the species was once included in the closely related genus Fatsia as Fatsia horrida.
Devil's Club generally grows to 1-1.5 m tall; however, instances exist of it reaching in excess of 5m in rainforest gullies. The spines are found along the upper and lower surfaces of veins of its leaves as well as the stems. The leaves are spirally arranged on the stems, simple, palmately lobed with 5-13 lobes, 20-40 cm across. The flowers are produced in dense umbels 10-20 cm diameter, each flower small, with five greenish-white petals. The fruit is a small red drupe 4-7 mm diameter.
The plant is covered with brittle yellow spines that break off easily if the plants are handled or disturbed, and the entire plant has been described as having a "primodial" appearance. Devil's Club is very sensitive to human impact and does not reproduce quickly. The plants are slow growing and take many years to reach seed bearing maturity, and predominately exist in dense, moist, old growth conifer forests in the Pacific Northwest.
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[edit] Habitat
This species usually grows in moist, dense forest habitats, and is most abundant in old growth conifer forests. It is found from south-central Alaska south along the coast of California and east into Idaho and Montana.
[edit] Uses
Devil's club is closely related to American Ginseng, and has been clinically shown to possess medicinal qualities. Native Americans used the plant both as food and medicine. The plant was traditionally used by Native Americans to treat adult-onset diabetes and a variety of tumors. Clinical studies have verified the plants effectiveness as a treatment for the early stages of diabetes. Extracts of the plants young shoots also have been clinically shown to be effective against a variety of cancers.[1]
Devil's club is edible and nutritious and can be eaten as a cooked green. The very, very young shoots of the plants can be harvested and eaten raw or cooked, however, this plant arms itself with brittle spines early in life. Provided the spines are still soft and harmless and have not hardened, the young shoots are edible and reported to be very palatable. [2]
[edit] Urban Legends
Because Devil's club is closely related to American Ginseng, modern urban legends have attributed the plant as a powerful "mind enhancer" and the plant has been harvested and used as an ethnogen, often resulting in severe environmental impacts on populations of Devil's Club which are very sensitive to human impacts. No credible or reliable scientific studies have verified any of the sensationalist claims regarding the use of this plant as an ethnogen or "mind enhancer".[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1
- ^ Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1
- ^ Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory -- Oplopanax horridus
- USDA plants profile: Oplopanax horridus
- Pojar, Jim, and MacKinnon, Andy. Plants of Coastal British Columbia. 1994. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 1-55105-042-0. p. 82.
