Aralia spinosa, Devils Walking Stick is an aromatic, spiny deciduous shrub or small tree growing 7–26 ft tall, often taller as one travels south.  It is an understory plant found mainly along forest borders and lowlands and prefers a deep moist soil. They often form clonal thickets by sprouting from the roots.
 
The flowers are creamy-white, occur from June to Sept and are highly valued by native pollinators. The fruit is a small purplish-black berry that ripens during fall. Fruit and seeds are favored by birds; leaves are browsed by deer. The double or triple compound leaves are among the largest of any temperate tree in the continental U.S. Each may be over 3 ft long and 2.5 ft wide.  They bear a crowded cluster of double or triple compound leaves in their canopies, thus giving each stem a certain tropical palm-like appearance. In the south, they may reach heights of 50 ft, still retaining its palm-like looks.
 
Common on coastal plain, eastern Piedmont and southern mtns. Click to see its range in North Carolina
 
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