Source: Wikipedia
Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil’s walking stick, is a woody species of plant in the genus Aralia of the family Araliaceae. It is native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles, and even leaf midribs.

Aralia spinosa is an aromatic, spiny deciduous shrub or small tree growing 2–8 m (7–26 ft) tall. It has a simple or, occasionally, branched stem with very large bipinnate leaves 70–120 cm (30–45 in) long. The trunks are up to 15–20 cm (6–8 in) in diameter. The young stems are stout and thickly covered with sharp spines. The plants generally grow in clusters of branchless trunks, although stout wide-spreading branches are occasionally produced.

The flowers are creamy-white. Each individual flower is small (about 5 mm or 3⁄16 in across) but produced in a large composite panicles which is 30–60 cm (12–24 in) long. Flowering is in late summer. The fruit is a purplish-black berry that is 6–8 mm (1⁄4–5⁄16 in) in diameter and ripens during fall. The roots are thick and fleshy.

The double or triple compound leaves are the largest of any temperate tree in the continental United States. It is often about a meter (three feet) long and 60 cm (two feet) wide with leaflets that is 5–8 cm (2–3 in) long. The petioles are prickly with swollen bases. In the autumn the leaves turn to a peculiar bronze red (touched with yellow) that makes the tree conspicuous and attractive.