My first experience with devil’s club was as a teenager hiking in the mountains. I saw a glossy green leaf and instinctively reached for the stem to run the leaf over my hand, but quickly pulled my hand away. Devil’s Club is covered in spines, on both the leaves and the stems.

It has large green, shiny leaves and stands 1-2m tall. It is found in wetter, shady areas. We see it in the high wet meadows of the Monashees, Selkirks, and Cariboo Mountains. Red clustered berries stand above the leaves in late summer.

The plant was widely used by northern First Nations people for medicinal purposes. I can see myself needing herbal meds if I was harvesting this plant.