BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Oplopanax horridus | Devil's Club 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Devil's club is a native, erect to slightly spreading, deciduous shrub
from 3.3 to 10 feet (1-3 m) in height.  It is sparsely branched with
sharp, dense prickles on stems and prominent leaf veins [24,30,48].  The
fruit is a drupe with two to three seeds [23,48].  Cooper and others
[11] noted that this species is rhizotomous; other researchers have yet
to confirm this.  Devil's club is drought intolerant [10].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Information on devil's club regeneration is scant.  Seedling growth is
apparently slow [34].  Devil's club reproduces vegetatively, but the
method is uncertain.  Vegetative reproduction may be accomplished by
rhizomes [11] and/or layering [34].  Stickney [42] tentatively listed it
as a root crown sprouter.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Devil's club is a wet-site indicator [38].  It grows on moderately
well-drained to poorly drained, shaded sites.  It is commonly found near
springs and streams and in drainage, seepage, and wet bottom areas
[5,8,27].  It occurs on variable aspects [9], growing in soils that are
sandy, loamy, or silty in texture.  Devil's club-supporting soils are
sometimes skeletal.  Soils are derived from quartzite or from fluvial,
colluvial, glaciolacustrine, or morainal deposits [11,6,27].  Soil pH is
acid.  It ranges from 4.5 to 6.0 in the western redcedar/devil's club
type of northern Idaho [11], and was measured at 3.8 in the Sitka alder
(Alnus viridis spp. sinuata)/devil's club type of southern Alaska [39].
Soil nutrient levels are medium to very rich [24].  Climate varies from
maritime, submarine, and continental types [24].  Elevational ranges for
devil's club in several locations are as follows:

                             feet             meters

northwestern Montana     3,900-5,000     1,189-1,524 [8]
Oregon                   1,300-4,600       396-1,402 [9,25]
northern Idaho           1,500-4,900       460-1,495 [11]
southeastern Alaska          0-1,700         0-  518 [14,47]


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Climax Species

Devil's club is moderately shade tolerant [24] and is primarily found in
understories of late seral, climax, and old-growth forests.  Best growth
is attained in climax (mature) forests [6,8].  Average devil's club
biomass at widely located sites in western hemlock-western redcedar and
Sitka spruce-western hemlock forests of southeastern Alaska was as
follows [3]:

clearcut sites:                 0.00 lb/acre 
young (30- to 100-year-old):    0.09 lb/acre  (0.1 kg/ha)
mature (100- to 250-year old):  4.80 lb/acre  (5.4 kg/ha)
old-growth (250+ years):        2.90 lb/acre  (3.3 kg/ha)


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Devil's club flowers in late spring to midsummer, depending upon
location.  Plants in southeastern Alaska bloom in June [45], while
plants on the Lake Superior islands bloom in mid-July.  Fruits ripen
approximately 4 weeks after flowering and persist over winter [46].
Leaves are dropped within a few days of the first fall frost.  In the
Cascade Range of Oregon, leaf abscission occurs in October or November
[10].

Related categories for Species: Oplopanax horridus | Devil's Club