Branches have large pith and winter buds with few outer scales. Leaves are alternate or pinnate to thrice pinnately compound. Flowers are borne in large, terminal panicles. Fruit is a small, berrylike drupe. Aralia Species I. Leaves are alternate and twice pinnately compound.
Twigs are spiny.
Spines are unbranched, short, and stout. Flowers are white and bloom in August. Fruit is a black drupe that matures in September or October. It grows rapidly and is sometimes cultivated for ornamentation due to its curious habit. The trunk branches and leaf stalks are very prickly and the twigs are thick and stout with a large pith.