This is growing at the edge of the woods behind a rental house. I'm planning on eventually cleaning up this last 10' or so of yard and just leave the large trees. I've never seen one of these and can't even tell you how it got there unless a tenant threw something back there and it sprouted. Thoughts on what it might be and if I should leave it?
Just googled it...sure looks like it. I've never heard of it. All of the 1000's of times I've been in the woods I've never seen one, throwing weeds in a pile at the back of a residential yard and I find one. Thanks!
Dam it Eric beat me to it It’s a weed and it toxic to humans and pets when eaten But consider a shrub
Just discussed this tree with my older brother last week, I was telling him about making walking sticks out of them. He went into his house and brought out a quality walking stick, said a friend whom we both knew who passed last year, had made for him. Said he made several each year and gave them away. He would dig them up and a root would be the handle, as there can be a natural crook in the root from the stem. My younger brother happens to have two of them drying for walking sticks, and he lives in another state. Dried, it's very lightweight. I have found some on my land. They are tall and spindly.
I just looked it up. This is copied from google Uses[edit] The young leaves can be eaten if gathered before the prickles harden. They are then chopped finely and cooked as a pot herb. Aralia spinosa was introduced into cultivation in 1688 and is still grown for its decorative foliage, prickly stems, large showy flower panicles (clusters) and distinctive fall color. These plants are slow growing, tough and durable, do well in urban settings, but bear numerous prickles on their stems, petioles, and leaflets. These plants can be propagated from seeds or root cuttings.[5] Early American settlers used the plant for its alleged properties for curing toothaches.[6] The plant was used as a medicine during the American Civil War. In a laboratory study, extracts from the plant showed antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria associated with wound infections. [7]
I'm not going to clean that part of the yard until the fall or winter. It's a very low priority. But if it was something cool I would leave it. I might and just see what happens. Thanks!
careful now or you will have the whole "practioners of black arts"( medical system ) and their kin ( Big Pharma)up in arms with any mention of wholistic properties. Just the mention of someting that isn't pharmacutically derived drives them nutz.
I love it when you guys post these different looking species from back east that I've never seen before. There's just so much out there to learn about.
How big is that one? The pics make.it look rather large... We have lots of them in certain places, tallest I've seen is probably around 6 ft tall, and maybe the size of a paper towel roll tube. Nothing like walking through the woods in a hurry on a burn, not realizing you've gotten into a patch of them, and stradling a crotch high one....
I've always heard it called Devil's Club. Not real common, but where it is, there are a lot. I usually see it in clearcuts and burns.
