DCHP-1 Online
bois picant Cdn French "prickly wood" Obs. 
a shrub, Oplopanax horridus, of western Canada, having large leaves, a prickly stem and conspicuous red berries.
See also: devil's club
- 1793 (1801) The trees are . . . service tree, bois picant, &c. I never saw any of the last kind before. It rises to about nine feet in height, grows in joints without branches, and is tufted at the extremity . . . it is covered with small prickles, which caught our trowsers, and working through them, sometimes found their way to the flesh.
- 1806 (1960) . . . with the exception of the Bois picant we saw no other tree or shrubs.
- 1793 (1801) The trees are . . . service tree, bois picant, &c. I never saw any of the last kind before. It rises to about nine feet in height, grows in joints without branches, and is tufted at the extremity . . . it is covered with small prickles, which caught our trowsers, and working through them, sometimes found their way to the flesh.