Panax. ARALIACEiT!. 647 



scales. Umbels globose ; the pedicels slender. Flowers greenisli-whitc. 

 Fruit purplisli-lilack when mature, juicy ; ihc cndocarp strongly 3-anpled. 

 — Sarsapar'illa. — The root is em|)loyed as a substitute for llie otficinal Sar- 

 saparilla : it is also used medicinally by the aborigines. 



-j—Z. A. hispida (Michx.) : stem a little shrubby at tlie base and very hispid 

 with rigid bristles ; leaves bipinnatcly compound ; the petiole often hispid; 

 pinnEC about 3 pairs with a terminal one ; leadets oblong-ovate, acute, iu- 

 cisely serrate, glabrous; umbels several, in a terminal pedunculate corymb; 

 involucre of numerous setaceous leaflets. — M'lclix. ! Jl. 1. p. Ido ; Vent. hart. 

 Cels. t. 41 ; Sims, hot. mao-. t. 1041 ; LodJ. Lot. cah. I. 1.3()(; ; Torr. ! fl. 

 I. c. ; DC. ! I. c. ; Hook. I. c. A. Muhlonbergiana, Schidt. sifst. fi. p. 704. 



In rocky places, Canada ! from Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland ! and tlie 

 New England States! to the mountains of Virginia. .Tune-July. — Stem 

 1-2 feet liigh. Leaflets small. Flowers white, in rather large umbels: pe- 

 dicels filiform. — Wild Elder. 



* * Shrubby or arborescent, prickly. 



~j^- A. spinosa (Linn.) : stem arborescent, prickly, as also the petioles ; 

 leaves bipinnately compound; leaflets ovate, acuminate, serrate, mostly gla- 

 brous, glaucous beneath; umbels in a very large and much branched (pube- 

 rulent) panicle, somewhat racemose on the branches; involucre very small 

 and few-leaved. — Linn..' spec. 1. p. 273 ; Miclix. .' Jl. 1. jJ. ISG > Pursh, 

 fl. l.p. 209; Ell. sk. 1. p. 373; VC. ! I. c. 



0. petioles not prickly. — A. spinosa (i. ineniiis, Pursh, I. c. 



y. " entirely glabrous ; leaflets cordate-ovate, slightly serrulate or near- 

 ly entire ; the lower leaves mostly unarmed." — A. spinosa /?. glabra, 

 Nutt. ! mss. 



Rich damp woods, Virginia ! to Florida ! Louisiana ! and Arkansas ! 

 June-Aug. — " Plant shooting up many straight shrubby unbranched stems, 

 naked and prickly below, with the leaves crowded at the summit of the 

 stems, like the palm-trees" {Ell.) : often forming a tree, which " in rich 

 soils attains the height of 30-40, or even GO feet, with a diameter of 3-12 

 inches." {Prof. Carpenter.) Petioles 2-4 feet long : a pair of leaflets usually 

 subtends each pair of pinnae. Petals white. Styles at first connivent. The 

 flowers are ajjparently sometimes polygamous : at least many do not become 

 fertilized. (The bark of tlie fresh root is employed medicinally, being both 

 emetic and cathartic, &;c. It is also one of the popular remedies for the bite 

 of the Rattlesnake.) — Prickly- Ash. Angelica-tree. 



2. PANAX. Linn. ; Lam. ill. t. 860 ; Endl. gen. p. 793. 



Flowers polygamous. Limb of the calyx very shori, obscurely 5-(oothed. 

 Petals 5, spreading. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals: filaments short. 

 Fruit fleshy, drupaceous, compressed, orbicular or didymous, 2-3-celled ; 

 the endocarp coriaceo-chartaceous. — Perennial herbs, shrubs, or trees, some- 

 what diverse in habit. Petioles sheathing at the base. 



§ 1 . Herbaceous, unarmed : root tuberous : leaves {ternalebj) verticillate al 

 the summit of the stem, palmately compound : umbel solitary, simple, on a 

 long peduncle. — Eupanax. (Aureliana, Calesh.) 



K 



-' "l. P. quinquefolium (Linn.) : root fusiform, often branched; leaflets 5, or 

 6-7, much petiolulate, obovate-oblong, acuminate, the midrib and nerves 

 mostly glabrous ; the lateral ones smaller ; peduncle about as long as the 



