Distinguishing Features: The Smooth Shadbush differs from the Shadbush by its smooth leafstalks and juicy, edible, dark purple fruits.
HERCULES’ CLUB
Aralia spinosa L.
Other Name: Devil’s Walking-stick.
Growth Form: Small tree to 30 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 6 inches; crown widely spreading.
Bark: Dark brown, roughened, shallowly furrowed, with short, hard prickles.
Twigs: Stout, pale brown or gray, smooth except for many short, hard prickles; leaf scars alternate, broadly U-shaped, with about 15 bundle traces.
Buds: Cone-shaped, brown, smooth, up to ½ inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, doubly or triply pinnately compound, with very numerous leaflets; leaflets ovate to lance-ovate, pointed at the tip, tapering to rounded at the base, up to 3 inches long, about half as wide, coarsely toothed along the edges, green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface, except usually for a few prickles along the veins.
Flowers: Numerous, in many umbrella-shaped clusters, appearing during late June and July, each with 5 small white petals and purple stalks.