HEDERACEAE 855 



or a drupe. Seed solitary, with a crustaceous testa. Endosperm copious, fleshy. 

 Embryo straight. [^Araliaceae Vent.] 



Vines: leaf -blades simple. 1. Hedera. 

 Herbs, shrubs or trees : leaf-blades compound. 



Scapose : bracts whorled ; blades digitately compound. 2. Panax. 



Caulescent : leaves alternate ; blades pinnately decompound. 3. Aralia. 



1. HEDERA L. 



High -climbing vines, with rope-like stems. Leaves without stipules : blades simple, 

 entire or lobed, leathery, often lustrous. Flowers polygamous, in panicled umbels, jointed 

 to the pedicels. Calyx truncate or of 5 sepals. Petals 5, valvate, inconspicuous. Stamens 

 5 : filaments short. Ovary 5-celled. Styles united into a conic or cylindric column. 

 Berry-like fruit angled, somewhat pulpy : nutlets papery or membranous. Seeds solitary. 

 Endosperm ruminated. 



' 1. Hedera Helix L. An evergreen high-climbing vine. Stems rope-like, clinging 

 by rootlets : leaves alternate ; blades leathery, dark green and lustrous above, dull be- 

 neath, ovate, angular or 3-5-lobed or 3-5-cleft, 2-10 cm. long : flowering branches stiff : 

 umbels solitary or a few in terminal racemes or panicles : hypanthium pubescent, tur- 

 binate : sepals obsolete : corolla yellowish green : petals ovate or oblong-ovate, 2-3 mm. 

 long, obtuse : stamens 5, ascending : fruit subglobose, about 1 cm. in diameter, 2-5-seeded. 

 About houses and cemeteries, sparingly naturalized from Europe. Ivy. 



2. PANAX L. 



Perennial scapose herbs, with globose or elongated tuberous rootstocks. Scapes simple, 

 topped by a whorl of digitately compound petioled bracts. Peduncle erect, naked. Um- 

 bel simple, terminal, solitary. Flowers polygamous, inconspicuous. Sepals minute or 

 nearly obsolete. Petals 5, valvate, spreading, white or greenish. Stamens 5 : filaments 

 short. Ovary 2-3-celled, or rarely 5-celled. Styles 2-3, distinct. Stigmas obliquely 

 facing inward. Berries drupe-like, pulpy without, 2-3-celled within, red or yellowish. 

 Seeds more or less flattened. 



Rootstock globular : leaflets sessile, obtuse : berries yellow. 1. P. trifnlium. 



Rootstock fusiform : leaflets stalked, acuminate : berries bright crimson. 2. P. quinquefolium 



1. Panax trifolium L. Eootstock subglobose : scape erect, 1-2 dm. tall, topped by 

 a whorl of 3 bracts, simple : bracts with petioles ; blades digitately 3-foliolate ; leaflets 

 oblong or elliptic, often varying to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1-8 cm. long, obtuse, more 

 or less distinctly doubly serrate, acute or abruptly contracted at the base, sessile : 

 peduncles 1-8 cm. long : umbel solitary, the pedicels 2-5 mm. long : hypanthium turbi- 

 nate in flower : petals ovate to oblong, 0.5-1 mm. long, obtuse : berry 3-angled or didy- 

 mous, 4-5 mm. broad, yellow. 



In open woods, Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Georgia and Illinois. Spring and early summer. 

 Ground-nut. Dwarf Ginseng. 



2. Panax quinquefolium L. Rootstock fusiform, simple or forking : scape 2-4 dm. 

 tall, topped by a whorl of 3 or 4 bracts, simple : bracts with long petioles ; blades digi- 

 tately 5-foliolate or rarely 6-7-foliolate ; leaflets obovate or the lower ones oval or suborbic- 

 ular, 2-15 cm. long, acuminate at the apex, doubly serrate, acute to subcordate at the 

 base : peduncles 2-10 cm. long, topped by a solitary umbel : hypanthium campanulate : 

 sepals triangular : petals ovate, 1-1.5 mm. long, yellowish green : berries flattened, rather 

 didymous, 8-10 mm. broad, bright crimson. 



In rich soil in woods, Quebec to Minnesota and Nebraska, south to Florida and Alabama. Sum- 

 mer. Ginseng. Sang. 



3. ARALIA L. 



Perennial caulescent herbs, shrubs or trees, with glabrous pubescent or prickle-armed 

 foliage. Stems erect, horizontal or creeping. Leaves alternate : blades petioled, pin- 

 nately or ternately decompound : leaflets usually toothed. Flowers perfect or polygamo- 

 monoecious, white or whitish, in racemose or paniculate umbels, or in compound umbels. 

 Sepals 5 or obsolete. Petals 5, more or less imbricated, obtuse or with inflexed tips. 

 Stamens 5 : filaments curved. Ovary 5-celled. Styles 5, spreading. Ovules solitary in 

 each cavity. Berry 5-lobed, black, fleshy : nutlets crustaceous. Seeds flattened. Spike- 

 nard. Sarsaparilla. 



