No, not a place where off-duty satanists hang out. Devil's club is a member of the ginseng family and as such is said to have curative powers for several afflictions. Commonly associated with the word "ouch!" this thorny understory shrub can otherwise be identified by large limp, maple-shaped leaves and a cluster of red berries. In coastal British Columbia devil's club was traditionally used to provide relief from arthritis and rheumatism. As a wilderness food source, young stems of the devil's club can be cooked as greens while the roots can be peeled, rinsed and chewed raw. Devil's club bark was once mixed with various kinds of berries and boiled to make purplish dye for native basketry.
Illustration by Manami Kimura
About the Author: Brian Grover
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Written by Brian Grover
Monday, 19 February 2007 11:56
Born in the Maine backwoods and raised on both sides of the border in Oregon and British Columbia, the author kicked around the B.C. coast for a number of years after fleeing high school. Doing time in forestry, warehouses, sawmills, plywood mills and Canada Post convinced the youth that perhaps education was indeed all they said it was. While attending Malaspina College a quirk of fate landed the aspiring writer in the editor's chair of the student newspaper.
Between bouts of higher education Grover worked variously as a fishing guide, a cycling guide, a newspaper reporter and a graphic artist, training which eventually landed him a job handling communications for the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia. A degree in English literature and a qualification in language teaching led the author away from his beloved West Coast to four years of teaching in Japanese universities. A further year of bohemian Parisian lifestyle left him pining for the fjords of British Columbia.
Upon returning Grover founded Explore Canada Outdoor Adventures, an adventure in itself aimed at marketing British Columbia's renewable recreation resources to overseas, principally Japanese and American, visitors. Teaching, freelance writing, photography, web design and mucking about in the British Columbia outback all figure prominently in Grover's present way of life.
