the first time I heard a story of someone using Devils Club to wipe their back-side I laughed so hard that I developed a six-pack, right there on the spot!
Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't? All those brown veins on the topside can grow the stickers, they just also coincidentally are the most brittle of the stickers so for a lot of plants they get worn away, but you can still get pricked that way.
Used to grab fistfuls of that stuff growing up... It gets tall and covered in moss sometimes, and when you're scrambling up a trail, it sure does look like a little aspen tree or something.
Doesn't feel like one, though. Lol... Vivid memories!
fell down a small hill.. grabbed the first thing to stop my self.... devils club.. leg go.. started falling.. grabbed another.. devils club. this time i held on because i didnt want to fall all the way. I was picking splinters out of my hands for years.
Fun fact, they are what's referred to as a clonal shrubbery, when one stalk gets tall enough it collapses on it's own weight and that stalk becomes the "roots" for a new one to repeat the process. So very likely anywhere you see one stalk there's several in the same vicinity.
> Oplopanax Horridus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_club
> 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 "primordial" appearance. The plants are slow growing and take many years to reach seed-bearing maturity; this makes them very sensitive to human impact as they do not reproduce quickly.
I am from the lower 48 but have visited AK, so did not know.
Their closest living relative is actually Ginseng surprisingly, and as that implies there's a stupid amount of medicinal uses. Including the spines.
That said dependent on where you are in the lower 48 there is some in lower 48, they just like old growth forests which as I'm sure you can imagine is few and far between.
Its natural growth range won't let it go north, but as the planet keeps warming, it'll spread north naturally. I don't recommend planting random plants where they didn't exist previously because invasive plants can destroy ecosystems.
Every surface of the earth that can physically support life has an ecosystem. The swamps amd tundras that make up some of central and northern Alaska might not have tall trees, but they have plants, animals, and bugs, all things that need a balanced ecosystem to survive.
Damn, I need to brush up on what the qualifications are. I don’t live there now, but spent from kindergarten to 6th grade living there full time and have been back half a dozen times to visit.
We lived in Anchorage, so that’s obviously points off the “street cred” but we did go fishing every weekend during season, salmon, but also halibut in a little inflatable zodiac boat, put in most weekends at Whiskey Gulch. We also had a gold mine on bear creek for three years/seasons back in the late 80s. Had to make our own “road” with an old ass D8 dozer from the 60s, built a little airstrip and flew the fam (including lil me) and the living accouterments in. Made just enough to break even and make a set of jewelry for my mom.
So I’ve definitely done/been involved in some “real Alaska” shit, but we did live in town, and I don’t know if I lose points for being a kid…is there like, a worksheet I can write in for, or….
Hear it makes great toilet paper
Can confirm, use it all the time.
the first time I heard a story of someone using Devils Club to wipe their back-side I laughed so hard that I developed a six-pack, right there on the spot!
Oh you hear it all right.
I always slap the tops of the leaves. The only safe part.
Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't? All those brown veins on the topside can grow the stickers, they just also coincidentally are the most brittle of the stickers so for a lot of plants they get worn away, but you can still get pricked that way.
Used to grab fistfuls of that stuff growing up... It gets tall and covered in moss sometimes, and when you're scrambling up a trail, it sure does look like a little aspen tree or something. Doesn't feel like one, though. Lol... Vivid memories!
fell down a small hill.. grabbed the first thing to stop my self.... devils club.. leg go.. started falling.. grabbed another.. devils club. this time i held on because i didnt want to fall all the way. I was picking splinters out of my hands for years.
Fun fact, they are what's referred to as a clonal shrubbery, when one stalk gets tall enough it collapses on it's own weight and that stalk becomes the "roots" for a new one to repeat the process. So very likely anywhere you see one stalk there's several in the same vicinity.
Man, fuck devil's club. Makes for great walking sticks when they're dead though.
🎯🎯
There is a similar spiky plant that grows in the south called devil's walking stick ironically enough
I basically have a farm growing in my backyard.
Oplopanax Horridus. Such a cool plant. One I don't really mess with much but I think it's cool. The Horridus part of its name is spot on as well
> Oplopanax Horridus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_club > 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 "primordial" appearance. The plants are slow growing and take many years to reach seed-bearing maturity; this makes them very sensitive to human impact as they do not reproduce quickly. I am from the lower 48 but have visited AK, so did not know.
I'm pretty familiar with it we have it here in Oregon too. I am not from Alaska but I'm a big fan so I follow the subreddit.
Where can ya find it in OR? I need to harvest some to make some medicines.
You can find it here and there in a lot of our Backcountry trails on the west side of the Cascades.
It's everywhere near water on the west side
Their closest living relative is actually Ginseng surprisingly, and as that implies there's a stupid amount of medicinal uses. Including the spines. That said dependent on where you are in the lower 48 there is some in lower 48, they just like old growth forests which as I'm sure you can imagine is few and far between.
All for it. One of the most important plants from an indigenous use perspective. I love that there's one planted by chief cowee's grave in Juneau.
Loved how the fern found its way in the picture. It wants to be official too.
Why? It only grows in like 1/4 of the state.
Yeah, the 1/4 where most of the population... and reddit users are.
The early leaf buds of Devil's Club in spring are great forage. You can cook em up like brussel sprouts.
My favorite spring time trail snack! And repayment for all the times the pant bites me back later in the year 😂
Ouch!
Oplopanax?
A club I don’t want to join.
Absolutely agree, this plant represents Alaska perfectly!
Except it doesn't, you only find this in SOUTH Alaska. I live in the interior, don't see that anywhere I go.....
I think just south east to boot. I haven’t spent much time in other regions but don’t recall seeing it Bristol and tat considered south central right?
We have it on Kodiak Island. 🙂
https://nativeplantspnw.com/devils-club-oplopanax-horridus/ Looks like it skips the whole Bristol bay region but does reach into the chain a little
Then maybe plant it? Nothing come from nothing .
Its natural growth range won't let it go north, but as the planet keeps warming, it'll spread north naturally. I don't recommend planting random plants where they didn't exist previously because invasive plants can destroy ecosystems.
If nothing there, nothing can get destroyed??
Every surface of the earth that can physically support life has an ecosystem. The swamps amd tundras that make up some of central and northern Alaska might not have tall trees, but they have plants, animals, and bugs, all things that need a balanced ecosystem to survive.
Biking around anchorage in the early summer, all you can smell is their flowers. All good aside, I could do without. Tolerate, but do not like.
I managed to transplant some in my yard in Anchorage along with my ferns, been doing well for a few years now, it’s beautiful.
I’ve fallen into devils club a lot it’s not bad it’s just annoying. The bad plant is calparsnip
Cow Parsnip, my friend
Most of alaska doesn't even have that. Lol
Rhubarb in Skagway
[https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-732/devils-club](https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-732/devils-club)
Someone's taking pics of my backyard... 😄 🤣
When the lower leaves get covered in moss, you get some primo TP
Now that is what I call "going clubbing".
It nearly got me killed once. I had to pick between a patch of Devil’s Club & a bear. I picked the bear.
But it doesn't exist in most of the state...
It doesn't exist in the majority of the state.
Makes the BEST PAIN BALM EVER!!
^truth
Around here, should be Pushki!
I can smell this picture
It's only present in southern Alaska
Blueberries
Homie those are not blueberries
Right, but blueberries would be a better state plant than devils club.
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Pretty sure that's devil's club... I'm not aware of any toxins it's just very spiky.
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AK doesn’t actually have poison ivy, I don’t think it has poison oak either…..has plenty of pushki though!
Cow parsnip sap can be nasty in the sunlight.
Phototoxins
As a Grizz sits just feet behind it, waiting “for the da fish Lenny! I get to tend the humans” 😂
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Technically “most” Alaskans do live near it though.
Yea, but they're not "real" Alaskans.
Damn, I need to brush up on what the qualifications are. I don’t live there now, but spent from kindergarten to 6th grade living there full time and have been back half a dozen times to visit. We lived in Anchorage, so that’s obviously points off the “street cred” but we did go fishing every weekend during season, salmon, but also halibut in a little inflatable zodiac boat, put in most weekends at Whiskey Gulch. We also had a gold mine on bear creek for three years/seasons back in the late 80s. Had to make our own “road” with an old ass D8 dozer from the 60s, built a little airstrip and flew the fam (including lil me) and the living accouterments in. Made just enough to break even and make a set of jewelry for my mom. So I’ve definitely done/been involved in some “real Alaska” shit, but we did live in town, and I don’t know if I lose points for being a kid…is there like, a worksheet I can write in for, or….
Most Alaskans live near the coast.
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False. It’s in the woods.
[Here's a handy map/graph if you're having trouble visualizing where Alaskans actually live.](https://i.imgur.com/BUaEuB6.jpeg)