Aralia spinosa: The Devil's Walking Stick, a dangerous but colorful North American native

The thorns arising from the woody trunks and stems 

give this small tree its name.

Aralia spinosa, aka The Devil's Walking Stick or Hercules Club, is our #treetuesday woody plant of the week.  In the ginseng (Aralia) family it is native to eastern North America. It's been many years since I've seen a stand of them, but found these in a much cutover slope near Charlottesville, Va. 

Small white flowers develop into these showy maroon berries

 in the autumn 

The tri-pinnately compound leaves are another distinguishing 

characteristic of this handsome but straggly tree.

Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha) a southern American native that's hard to find

#treetuesday

 The Franklin tree blooms in the Philadelphia area at the end of July into August.  The yellow mass in the center of the flower consists of numerous stamens (male parts).

 Fertilized flowers, but undeveloped fruit, appear in the top of the photo.
The pistil, female portion, is the stick-like portion protruding from the developing fruit.
 Fully developed, but immature, fruit appear in the center of the photo.

The Franklin tree remains small and open or scraggly in stature.  Its mature height is 10-to 20 feet. 

Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha), the Franklin tree named for Benjamin Franklin, is a native of the southeastern U.S.  Originally found near the Altamaha River valley in Georgia, by John Bartram and his son William, it is now considered extinct in the wild and only known from cultivated trees.  This small tree is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8.  This photographed tree is a youngster and grows in a slightly shaded spot near a college campus in suburban Philadelphia.