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Aralia californica
Also called Elk Clover, California Ginseng, Western Spikenard
California spikenard is a large deciduous perennial herb native to western California and Oregon, growing in moist, shaded streambanks, canyons and forests. It thrives with cool, moist conditions and shade, and dies back in winter.
Aralia californica, known by the common name elk clover, California aralia and California spikenard is a large deciduous perennial herb native to California and Oregon in the family Araliaceae. It occurs primarily in moist, shaded habitats such as streambanks, canyons and mixed forests. The plant can reach 2-3 m in height and produces very large compound leaves. It has small, greenish-white flowers that occur in branched clusters, followed by dark purple to black fruits.
Freshly collected seeds can be directly sown into soil, and are expected to germinate in 60 days. Dried seed requires 2-3 months cold stratification.
Udo · Japanese angelica tree · American spikenard · Devil's walkingstick · Spikenard
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aralia californica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
