ARALIACE^— GINSENG FAMILY 



DWARF GINSENG. GROUNDNUT 



Aralia trifdlia. Panax trifolium 



Perennial. Rich woods. Nova Scotia to Minnesota, 

 south to Georgia. Common in northern Ohio. April, 

 May. 



Root. — Tuberous, deep in the ground, pungent to the 

 taste and not aromatic. 



Ste7n. — Four to eight inches high, bearing the flower- 

 cluster at the summit. 



Leaves. — Three, in a whorl upon the flower-stem, com- 

 pound; leaflets three to five. 



Flowers. — White, in a simple umbel, staminate, pistil- 

 late, or perfect. 



Calyx-tube. — Coherent with the ovary. 



Corolla. — Petals five, oblong. 



Stamens. — Five. 



Pistil. — One; styles two to five, usually three. 



Fruit. — Small, yellowish, berry-Hke drupes. 



The Dwarf Ginseng usually blooms with the Har- 

 binger-of-Spring in the open woods of northern Ohio, 

 and is almost as delicate in appearance as its com- 

 panion. Its small white flowers are clustered in 

 feathery, fluffy balls about the size of a small marble, 

 and each ball stands an inch or two above the whorl 



i6i . 



