5i} ARAXilA. No. 8. 



\ 



biternate or with nine folioles, the lateral ones sessile, 

 the terminal ones petiolate^ all ovate, oblong, round- 

 ed at the base, end acuminate, margin serrulate^ sur- 

 face smooth. Sometimes some folioles are coales- 

 cent. 



Flowers from twelve to thirty in each umbel, pe- 

 dunculate, small, yellowish. Calix greenish, obconi- 

 cal, united to the pistil, crowned with five teeth. 

 Petals five, oboval, obtuse, yellowish white. Five 

 stamina and five styles filiform. Berries small, round, 



similar to Elder berries in size. 



HISTORY—The genus Jlralia is the type of a 

 natural tribe the Aralides, to which Panax or Gin- 

 seng belongs likewise ; this last diflfering only by hav- 

 ing two styles and two cells instead of five. This 

 family differs from the Umbellate by producing 

 berries instead of two seeds. All the plants of this 

 genus and family have active properties. Two other 

 American species *^. racemosa and J3. hispida^ have 

 the same properties as this, and may be used for each 

 other. The A. spinosa pr Angelica Tree partakes of 

 the same, and also of the properties of Angelica root 

 and Xanthoxylum. 



Aralia belongs to Pentandria pentagynia of 



-Linnaeus. 



This species blossoms in summer. It is often called 

 Sarsaparilla, the root being similar to that article, and 

 having similar properties. It might become an arti- 

 le of trade as such, and deserves to be cuUivated. 



LocALiTT— Found from New-England to Carolina, 

 And Indiana, more common in the north than the 



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