Devil's Club

Devil's Club or Devil's Walking Stick, Oplopanax horridus, is a familiar plant in the Pacific Northwest where it grows in damp and cool forest glades. It is a very large plant, 3-6 feet tall, with large lobed leaves. It is covered, stems and leaves, with the spines from which it gets both its scientific and common names. This is new growth emerging at the end of a stem and it was photographed in Lake Padden Park. The plant, especially the cambium layer, is used medicinally as a tea or as a poultice for a number of different ailments including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.