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The Best Medicine in the West | Alaskan Ginseng
- Mar 18
- 7 min read
Introducing Devil's Club / Oplopanax horridus / Alaskan Ginseng
Most of our readers now know that we used to live in Alaska, but now we live in Arizona. However, this location change has not stopped us from gathering this incredible source of overall healing for our family. Last time my husband came home from work in Alaska, he brought home an entire tote of Devil's Club stalks!
We have witnessed firsthand how incredibly healing this curious plant is. From relieving severe pain, aiding in recovery of respiratory illnesses, to knitting broken bones and generally providing an invigorating mental boost, this northwestern remedy is our family's number one go-to.
Seemingly useless and invasive, Devil's Club is worth every ounce of work and time it takes to harvest this God-given medicine. Tucked beneath a menacing brown layer of unassuming spiny bark, lies a bright green layer of rich oily bark containing nature's best.
For hundreds of years native tribes and ancient peoples have harvested Devil's Club to treat a wide variety of discomforts and ailments. Below I will share a comprehensive list of what this plant was used for, but if you desire to read about this topic more in depth, I will attach a deep dive into the uses and history of Devil's Club.
You can find that extensive article here.
What is Devil's Club Good For?
Historically Devil's Club was used topically and for internal consumption. Many tribes of native people claimed to use it for spiritual purposes, as well, but we do not use it in any way for those purposes. God gave us the whole earth to subdue and use responsibly, so that is what we focus on here.
Topical Uses:
swollen glands
boils
sores
infections
pain relief
general strength
chest pain
arthritis
black eyes
ulcers
skin diseases
swelling
rheumatism
burns
measles
excessive lactation
Internal Consumption Uses:
fever
stomach trouble
coughs/colds
emetic/cathartic
preventing blood poisoning
gall stones
constipation
tooth cavity pain relief
gonorrhea
lung hemorrhage
purgative before/after birth
blood sugar regulation
internal hemorrhaging
start postpartum menstrual flow
weight loss
How To Identify Devil's Club in the Wild
Devil's Club prefers thicker Spruce Forest floors that have light beaming through to the floor every so often. They thrive in acidic soil, with some light and a lot of water. Often, you'll find Devil's Club mini forests near a stream or gathered water sources. Typically, the stalks will shoot straight up or veer towards the nearest light beams, branching off to absorb the greatest light quality. The outer bark is brown and very spiny. The leaves are large with red berries that normally form in the late spring.
How to Harvest Devil's Club Bark
When to Harvest:
Harvest during mid-spring through summer for optimal peeling and richest oil gain.
What to Wear:
To harvest Devil's Club Bark, you will want to wear long thick pants like blue jeans or Carhartt's. It also helps to wear a long sleeve flannel shirt or canvas jacket so as to protect from spines. Of course, considering the first two clothing suggestions, you'll want to have on some boots. Xtra Tuff boots are really the best boot for the potentially wet areas you'll walk through.
What to Bring:
- leather gloves
- large pruning snips
- something to carry stalks in
- butter knife or pocketknife
How to Harvest Devil's Club Stalks:
Once you've identified a healthy patch of Devil's Club, evaluate the stalks of the surrounding plants. Long thick stalks are easiest to harvest. Smaller top stalks often have a little richer medicine, though they take a little more work to peel the bark. When choosing which stalks to cut, you can test the bark by scraping your butter knife along the brown bark to see what shade the green bark is beneath. The brighter the green, the richer the medicine. Be sure to harvest responsibly and not take too much from any one plant. Devil's Club is very slow growing and will take a huge hit if you over prune the plant.
Wearing your gloves, use pruning snips to cut along the base of a stalk. Trim off the top leaves and any small stalks that won't yield medicine. Place the stalks in your container and carry on!
From here, you can choose to shave the brown spiny bark off in the woods or at home. Due to time restraints with children, I've often just gathered spiny stalks and shaved off the brown bark at home. To shave the brown bark, simply use the dull side of your knife to gently remove the outer spiny layer. Remove the brown bark from the entire stalk.
Next you can simply peel the green bark off and set it aside on clean trays or in bags. The green bark will stain your hands a bit with the rich medicinal resin, so you can continue to wear thinner gloves or embrace the medicine soaking into your skin early. The smell of fresh Devil's Club is richly invigorating!
Ways to Use Your Fresh Devil's Club Bark
After harvesting the green bark there are a couple of things you can do with it, depending on if you want to use it topically, internally or both. We like to have Devil's Club in the house for both salve and tea, which cover all of the bases.
For Devil's Club Salve:
Place the moist green bark directly into mason jars, packing them 3/4ths of the way full and then cover the bark entirely with pure olive oil. Leave the infusing olive oil to sit for a few months with cheese cloth or a paper towel wrapped over the top in the pantry. Letting the jars sit in the pantry for a few months is surely the best way to infuse your oil for salve if you have the time. To rush this process, you can always place the jar into a double broiler on the lowest setting for a few hours to force the infusion process. We did that this year to get a quick batch of salve made because we were completely out! The rest of the oil we left to its natural infusion process.
**Be sure to check on your jars from time to time to make sure the bark is still fully covered. If pieces stick out of the oil, they could potentially mold. **
For Devil's Club Tea
Lay the bark out on trays and either leave it near a wood stove or air dry for several days until the bark is crunchy and breakable. You can also cut the long strips into nice rectangular shapes to dry uniformly. To prepare a cup of Devil's Club Tea simply pinch a small handful of bark into a tea mug. It does not have to be all the way dried to have it right away. Pour hot water over your bark and wait until the bark has settled to the bottom to drink. Honey pairs wonderfully with Devil's Club strong woody citrus-like taste and has the amazing ability to both sooth and awaken the senses.
To create a strong syrup concoction, fill a small saucepan halfway to three quarters full with purified water and add a handful of Devil's Club bark. Boil for at least 20 minutes, checking the water content to ensure your mixture doesn't scorch. Pour off the liquid and drink to your liking.
**I will note that I do not drink more than a tablespoon of tea (per week) when pregnant or nursing. I do not know that it is bad, but because of its potent properties to purge the system, I simply don't take the risk.
Devil's Club Salve Recipe
1 cup infused oil
3-4T organic beeswax pellets
2T shea butter
1T coconut oil
Pour off the pure oil into a strainer to remove any remaining bark. Melt all ingredients in a double broiler until entirely melted and pour hot salve into warmed salve containers. Cool the salve on the counter or in the refrigerator. Store extra containers in the refrigerator for extended lifespan. The salve lasts at least 6 months - 2 years from our personal experience.
Testimonials
Our neighbor in Alaska: Hearing our neighbor's strong review of this forest remedy is what made us interested in trying it out in the first place. He claimed it healed his entire body after a life-threatening ATV accident that broke dozens of bones throughout his body. He also claimed to have passed a black mass of infection after drinking the tea all day every day. He went on to pursue a natural medicine degree because of his experience with Devil's Club.
Personal: At the time of our Devil's Club investigations, we were working around the Spring clock to build a greenhouse and our bodies were wrecked. My husband was at his wits end with his shoulder, thinking he was going to have to get shoulder surgery because of the limited mobility and extreme pain throughout his entire shoulder and preexisting back injury. As soon as we started making salve from Devil's Club and rubbing it on our aching muscles and joints, we felt relief! Using Devil's Club salve gave us the strength to complete our greenhouse project and carry on with chores around the homestead. My husband's shoulder pain has not returned in any capacity since using Devil's Club salve.
Pastor's Wife: Our pastor's wife in Kodiak replaced CBD oil for Devil's Club salve and tea because she said it was the only thing that reached her knee pain after several surgeries and repeated injuries.
Friend: One of our friends and neighbors in Kodiak used Devil's Club to treat a deadly case of the recent world-wide virus. She came back for more tea when she realized how effective it was at fighting against the virus. We had the same success when faced with the same hurdle!
Friend: Another friend with chronic illness pains used this salve on her ankles that would sometimes give out and hurt excessively. She claimed that it too, was the only thing to reach her pain.
We use Devil's Club salve on diaper rash, open wounds, and all aches and pains. We drink the tea for coughs and colds, and they are gone in over half the time of their usual cycle. We fully support and encourage any of our Northwestern friends and fellows to harvest this medicinal plant for all of its many uses and share it with all who will listen. God gave us this spiny plant and we intend to subdue it for all its healing goodness.
Final Thoughts
We would love to hear more testimonials of this wonderful plant medicine. If you have tried it and can attest to its usefulness, we would love to hear from you! If you think we're crazy but want to see what it's all about, feel free to write with questions.
Blessings to you all as you seek healing from the One who heals,
The Nelsons
