Aralia spinosa

Aralia spinosa

Aralia spinosa is a species in the genus Aralia in the family Araliaceae ( Araliaceae ). It is, as Zanthoxylum clava - used for herculis, the trivial name Herkuleskeule. It is distributed in the eastern and central United States. It was formerly used in many ways in North America and is now used as an ornamental plant.

Description

Appearance, wood and leaf

Aralia spinosa grows as a thorny, deciduous, small tree or shrub with stature heights of 6 to 10, rarely up to 12 m and stem diameters, rarely more than 0.1 to 0.15 meters. With stocks rhizomes are formed; they also serve as vegetative propagation.

The wood of Aralia spinosa is light, soft and brittle; it is brown with a lighter, yellow sapwood. It has a central pith. The Stems usually remain unbranched until the first buds are formed. The bark is ash-gray to brown. The dense spines are robust. At young shoot axes the leaves are concentrated at the top, giving the impression of a flat, spread-out crown is formed. But it is not about branches that produce this effect, but it is produced by the Blattrhachis. On older stem axis, there are branches of the same appearance as in the main stem axes. The leaf scars of fallen leaves are always clearly visible on the trunk.

The alternate arranged leaves are 90 to 180 centimeters long and divided into a long petiole and leaf blade. The leaf blade is unpaired bipinnate. The Blattrhachis is prickly and thickened at the branches; this means that they are sometimes interpreted as branches. The leaflets are usually opposite pairs. The seated, dark-green and blue-green frosted leaflets are ovate with rounded base, tapered at the upper end and serrated edge with a length from 5.1 to 10.2 centimeters and a width of 3 to 4.1 centimeters. There are also spines on the leaf veins on the underside of leaves.

Inflorescence and flower

In terminal, 30 to 46 centimeters long, multi-branched, paniculate inflorescences many total doldige part inflorescences stand together, containing many flowers. The relatively small, hermaphroditic flowers are radial symmetry and fünfzählig double perianth. There are five sepals present. The five white to off- white petals are bent back. It's just a circle with five stamens present. Five carpels are fused into one inferior ovary. The five pens are usually grown only at their base.

Inflorescence and fruit

In the late autumn there are many fruits in fruit stalls with pink inflorescence axes and peduncles. The relatively small, juicy, berry-like drupes are also sometimes interpreted as berries. The stone fruits are egg-shaped with a length of up to 6.4 millimeters and discolored blue or purple - black when ripe. Each drupe contains three to five seeds like rock cores.

Ecology

For honey bees and a variety of other insects Aralia spinosa is a source of pollen and nectar.

The stone fruits are eaten by many wildlife such as birds, especially the cedar waxwing ( Bombycilla cedrorum ). Food offer the stone fruits and many other fruits and omnivores and even the American black bear. It is reported that deer species graze on Aralia spinosa.

Occurrence

Aralia spinosa is common in the eastern and central United States. There are localities in the U.S. states of southern Indiana, western New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, southern Illinois, southeastern Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Texas.

It thrives in deep, moist soils. By Rhizome it is considered invasive plant.

Taxonomy

The first publication of Aralia spinosa was in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, 1, p 273

Use

The indigenous peoples and the early settlers of North America used the bark, underground parts of plants and stone fruits for a variety of medicinal purposes. Also the use of the root bark and fruits as a diuretic is described.

Aralia spinosa is used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens in temperate zones. The unusual leaves, flower and fruit stalls make the Herkuleskeule an interesting way in garden design. The tendency to spread via rhizomes can be detrimental.

Swell

• Kristina Connor: Aralia spinosa l - devil 's walking stick in Wildland Shrubs of the United States and its Territories - Full-Text PDF. (Sections description, ecology, occurrence and use)