Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus)

[Cruiser]

Of all the hostile native plants around here, this one is the weirdest and best. Dinosauric in appearance with medicinal qualities and a nice smell when chopped.
There is a sick satisfaction to be had popping the imbedded spines out of a clumsy hand…

Hopefully the leaves will reduce a bit. They tend to be giant.

 

[andrewiles]

You're a brave man...

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Imagine wiring that thing

 

[Cruiser]

Imagine wiring that thing

You’d need to be some kind of masochist!
Probably never will. The longer “tentacles” of growth can be bent but at a certain point become extremely brittle and break. The leaves and petioles get knocked of very easily as well…
I’ll probably go with clip n grow or guy wires once I get a better grasp on growth patterns.

 

[Cruiser]

It’s alive.

The other plant is a little behind..

 

[Cruiser]

The egg has hatched. The monster emerges.

 

[Cruiser]

 

[HorseloverFat]

View attachment 485076

Now!

Wire...

Now!



(Really cool species, even cooler scientific name)

 

[Cruiser]

Now!

Wire...

Now!



(Really cool species, even cooler scientific name)

The spines haven’t hardened yet. The green tissue could probably be wired. I’m just not sure what to manipulate yet.
Those long stems are the petioles to the unfurling leaves. I think the apex and main “trunk” is between them.

 

[Cruiser]

Leaves appear to reduce.

 

[Cruiser]

Devils club is an understory plant. It prefers shade and wet soils.
In the forest, its presence is often an indicator of wetness and/or a nearby stream.



Oplopanax can spread vegetatively and usually does. This appears to be the preferred method of expansion, although it does flower. In older undisturbed places a few plants may become an expansive thicket. A sea of spiny tentacles.

 

[Cruiser]

Happy plants.
Both are leafing out two weeks earlier than they did last year.
Strong buds are pushing at various points along trunks, not just the apices.

 

[Cruiser]

The little devils club died last August…..too much sun. Leaves desiccated and it never quite recovered.

The bigger plant was partly defoliated last summer. New growth did not emerge and it lost what foliage remained. I thought it was a goner, but surprisingly, it has survived. Buds are beginning to open.

This species likely will never make a good bonsai, but it does make an interesting conversation piece.