DarylS
(.700 member)
07/05/17 03:17 PM
Re: Kuiu Island AK spring Black Bear

Devil's Club is a plant with long pointing outwards & curved upwards 'stems' reaching up to 4' height, radiating from a central, sort of "pod". A large one can cover an area of about 6 to 8 feet, with 6 to 8 stems.

The very large leaves can hide the plant so your step on it or into it as you walk through the bush.

The largest I've seen in BC (South Coast and Queen Charlotte Islands) have stems about 1 3/4" in diameter with a enlarged sort of knob on the end about 4" X 8" long. The stems and knobs have spines 1/4" long up to almost an inch.

With the larger Devil's Club plants, there can be up to a few feet in between the stems, so it's easy to step between the stems, but if you step on the central pod, the arms will come up from behind, sides and front and smack you, embedding the spines- sort of like stepping on a rake, with a whole bunch of extra handles going to smack you when you step on the end. Jeans are the worse for holding small spines and they bury into the flesh and can infect - they are also hard to see with good eye sight.

They aren't poisonous, but can be dirty and are a huge irritant. The little ones might be the worse as the can be unseen in the foliage until one smacks you on the back of the leg which can leave a lot of little spines embedded through your jeans, into your leg.

They usually come up to the surface after they fester a bit.



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