Devil's Club

Our plant of the week was Devil's Club, (Oplopanax horridus).

There is but one Devil's Club and it is unmistakable in appearance. It's large spiky leaves resemble Maple, but once you touch the leaf of Devil's Club, there is no way to confuse the two. The stalk, or club, of the Devil's Club is two to over ten feet tall and covered in spikes for all but the last foot or so above the ground. The plant grows from creeping rhizomes that form dense stands just under the duff of the forest floor. From these runner roots grow thin rootlets that sink into the earth. There are no spikes on the roots. Devil's Club has an impressive flower bloom that is greenish white in color and arranged like spiral pinnacles. In the late summer, the berries form bright red pyramids of fruit good for birds and bears, but not humans.

Devil's club is a plant of old forests and if you find a patch of it growing, know that you are in a portion of the woods that have not been too disturbed by the intrusion of humans. Its range is from Coastal Alaska south to Oregon. It grows east throughout British Columbia and northern Washington on into Montana and Idaho. In all of these regions the forest needs to be a wet one, moist enough to host Western Red Cedar. However, the further north one goes, the more one will find Devil's Club growing out in the open.

I find that the plant is most exalted in the old growth forest of the west slope of the Cascade Mountains. It is here in the cathedral forest that light can filter through a healthy canopy and dance upon the large spiky fan leaves tops of the Devil's Club, providing impressions of shadow and illumination that do not soon leave the beholder.

The Medicine Club has adopted the gathering method written about by Tara at hobostripper.com. It is the cut, shave, and strip method of harvesting just the upright "clubs" and a few inches of the root. This placement of the cut eases the stress of harvesting from the stands of Devils Club. The medicine is still very potent and a years worth of personal research has shown that as a wellness formula, Devil's Club works fine when harvested like this.

Devil's Club is best harvested with gloves on. Bring a pair of clippers into the forest, as it will make your job easier on you and the plant. Cut a few inches of the root and then cut again about a foot or so above the ground. This "club" will be easy to transport out of the woods. Then take back to your prep area, shave off the spines and outer bark, revealing the succulent green inner bark. Strip this from the hard inner wood by girdling the club and cutting into strips one inch wide and three to five inches long. Cut and peel. Pile the strong smelling strips separate from the shaving area for tincture or to be dried for tea.

Devils Club is a medicine of many uses. Please read Michael Moore or do lots of online research in order to learn more about this wonderful plant. I will write about what I know about the plant. Devil's Club is an amazing restorer or depleted energy reserves. The Northwest Native peoples from Alaska to Oregon have called Devil's Club a panacea, and assert that it can cure most anything.

First and foremost Devil's Club is, to quote Michael Moore, "A safe and reliable expectorant and respiratory stimulant, increasing the mucus secretions to initiate fruitful coughing and soften up hardened bronchial mucus that can occur later in a chest cold."

I have found that in times of life where I am spreading myself thin, when I have taken on too many projects or have stayed up too late engaged in wine fueled love making once again and my vital essence is well drained, under these conditions and many more I have found that the Devil's Club will come to the rescue and help restore my energy levels. Granted, I have to do my part and rest up a bit and take things easy.

Feeling a little sick, but not yet fully knocked out? Take some Devil's Club. Feeling the winter time blues? Take some Devil's Club (and a little California Poppy). Feeling sluggish? Low energy? Take some Devil's Club.

There has been a long history of Devil's Club for Adult Onset Diabetes. I have yet to work directly with this disease state so I would recommend more research if you are looking to treat you or someone else's diabetes with Devil's Club.

I have found that Devil's Club will decrease one's desire for sugars. I have heard that Native Americans of the region would drink Devil's Club tea on a fast because they said it reduced hunger and the need for food. I have found that my appetite decreases when I am using Devil's Club as a tonic for wellness.

Devil's Club has been likened to Ginseng. Both plants are more than capable of restoring the bodies energy systems. Michael Moore puts it best when he says Devils Clubs "main value is in modifying extremes of metabolic stress and adding a little reserve to offset the persons internal cost of living."

This weeks class was great. The Devil's Club workings are the funniest sessions of the Medicine Club. Something about the plant is just down right giggly, especially for those inclined to sexy humor, what with all the shaving and stripping and rendering smooth of the staff or club and the piling of the lovely smelling strips.

I'm not going to get too into it. It's just something that you'll have to attend in person next fall.

The class drew the images in both the spirit form and the analog of how it is. We talked a lot about old growth forests, strippers, and the devil in the ecological and geographical history of the West.

Thank you to everyone for being a part of this weeks class.

See you next time,

D