Medicinal Trees: Aralia Spinosa, Devil’s Walking Stick
Now, this one is interesting! I would have considered it more of a shrub than a tree, but several sources list it as a native tree… so, who am I to argue? It is certainly a unique plant and a valuable herb. The Devil’s Walking stick grows throughout much of my region, from the mountains down to the piedmont, and even occasionally found in the coastal counties of NC. This Aralia is called Devil’s Walking Stick, because it not only grows straight and is the right size and shape for a walking stick, but the trunk is covered in wicked thorns. I have backed into a few, not paying attention in the woods…. NOT FUN! It may also be called Hercules’ Club, Prickly Ash or Prickly Elder.
This plant is in the same family as Ginseng. It has long been used medicinally. Early settlers found the berries useful for toothaches, as the plant has analgesic properties. The fresh bark is said to be emetic and purgative. The dried bark is stimulating, alterative, meaning it gradually brings one back to health., and diaphoretic, meaning it helps resolve a fever. The effects of the dried bark put it in the category of the other aralias and ginsengs, it is a mild adaptogen. Adaptogens help the body recover from stress.
Mrs. Grieve referred to Aralia spinosa as “Angelica Tree”, stating of its use:
Fresh bark causes/vomiting and purging, but dried is a stimulating alterative. A tincture made from the bark is used for rheumatism, skin diseases and syphilis. The berries in tincture form, lull pain in decayed teeth and in other parts of the body, violent colic and rheumatism, useful in cholera when a cathartic is required in the following compound: 1 drachm compound powdered Jalap, 1 drachm Aralia spinosa, 2 drachms compound rhubarb powder or infused in 1/2, pint boiling water and when cold taken in tablespoonful doses every half-hour. This does not produce choleric discharges. Also a powerful sialogogue and valuable in diseases where mouth and throat get dry, and for sore throat; will relieve difficult breathing and produce moisture if given in very small doses of the powder. The bark, root, and berries can all be utilized.
Traditionally, Aralia Spinosa has been used somewhat interchangeably with Arailia Hispida and shares many of the qualities of Sarsaparilla (smilax) as a mild adaptogen, alterative or general tonic…. In many ways, it is a larger, weaker version of American Spikenard. Aralia racemose, but still quite useful.
Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests states:
TOOTHACHE BUSH; ANGELICA TREE; PKICKLY ASH; PEICKLY ELDER, (Amlia spinosa, L.) Collected in St. John's; rich soils along fences; Charleston, Florida and North Carolina.
Plant often confounded with the Xanthoxylon ; properties somewhat similar. See JC. Fraxineium which is the true Prickly Ash. Ell. Bot. 373 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 379; Coxe, Am. Disp. 100; Shcc. Elora Carol. 191; Frost's Elems. 20; Griffith, Med. Bot. 345.
It is a stimulating and very certain diaphoretic, " probably to be preferred to any emetic yet discovered among our native plants." This species is more stimulating than the A. nudicaulis. The infusion of the bark of the root is used in chronic rheumatism and cutaneous eruptions, also employed in lues venerea. Pursh states that a vinous or spirituous infusion of the berries is remarkable for 31 their power in relieving rheumatic pains, and the tincture is also given in Virginia in violent colics. See Dr. Meara's experiments. Merat says, it has been used to allay pain caused by carious teeth. Dose, of the saturated tincture, a tablespoonful three times a day. A decoction is often preferred in rheumatism, made by boiling an ounce of the bark in a quart of water; taken in divided doses several times a day. In South Carolina, this plant is the rattlesnake's master par excellence, according to the negroes; they rely on it almost exclusively as a remedy for the bite of serpents. I am informed that they use the bark of the fresh root in substance, taken internally, also applying it powdered to the wounded part. Dr. Meara advises that the watery infusion, when employed as a diaphoretic, should be made very weak, as it is apt to excite nausea, and cause irritation of the salivary glands.
King's American Dispensatory, 1898 tells us:
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—The fresh bark will produce vomiting and purging; but when dried it is a stimulating alterative, producing a determination toward the surface. The tincture has been used in syphilitic and rheumatic affections, and in some diseases of the skin. The warm infusion, especially when strong, is apt to induce vomiting. The berries in tincture have been found useful in lulling the pain from a decayed tooth; also in various painful affections of other parts. Much use was made of this bark by physicians in Cincinnati during the cholera of 1849-50, in cases where cathartics were required, but where the action of every purgative was difficult to control; the preparation was composed of 1 drachm of compound powder of jalap, 1 drachm of aralia spinosa, and 2 drachms of compound powder of rhubarb. Given in powder, in half-teaspoonful doses; or the powder was infused in half a pint of boiling water, of which infusion, when cold, a tablespoonful was given every half hour. In no case in which it was given did it produce a tendency to looseness or choleraic discharges. It is a powerful sialagogue, and is valuable in diseases where the mouth and throat are dry and parched, as a very small portion of the powder will produce a moisture and relieve difficult breathing; also useful in sore throat. The dose of tincture (bark ℥viij to dilute alcohol Oj) is from 5 to 60 drops, of the infusion (℥ss to aqua Oj) a tablespoonful to a wineglassful.
- Photo credit: By Eric Hunt - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93180157
This article is an excerpt from The Medicinal Trees of the American South, An Herbalist's Guide: by Judson Carroll
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