WHITE 



is resting on the fence rail, singing his sinii)le song of joy in 

 the perfect season, the long white flower-clusters of the choke- 

 cherry arrest our attention. In August, or sometimes late in 

 July, these same lanes are decorated by drooping clusters of the 

 dark red acid fruit, well known to the country children, who 

 perhaps gave the shrub its peculiar name. 



WILD SARSAPARILLA. 



Aralia nicdicaulis. Ginseng Family. 



Stem. — Bearing a single large, long-stalked, much-divided leaf, and a 

 shorter naked scape which bears the rounded flower-clusters. Flcnuers. — 

 Greenish-white; in umbels. Calyx. — With short or obsolete teeth. Corolla. 

 — Of five petals. Stamens. — Five. Fruit. — Black or dark-purple; berry- 

 like. 



In the June woods the much-divided leaf and rounded flower- 

 clusters of the wild sarsaparilla are frequently noticed, as well as 

 the dark berries of the later year. The long aromatic roots of 

 this plant are sold as a substitute for the genuine sarsaparilla. 

 The rice-paper plant of China is a member of this genus. 



GROUND-NUT. DWARF GINSENG. 



Aralia trifolia. Ginseng Family. 



Stem. — Four to eight inches high. Leaves. — Three in a whorl ; divided 

 into from three to five leaflets. Flo-tvers. — White ; in an umbel. Fruit. — 

 Yellowish; berry-like. Root. — A globular tuber. 



The tiny white flowers of the dwarf ginseng are so closely 

 clustered as to make "■ one feathery ball of bloom," to quote Mr. 

 Hamilton Gibson. This little plant resembles its larger relative 

 the true ginseng. It blossoms in our rich open woods early in 

 spring, and hides its small round tuber so deep in the earth that 

 it requires no little care to uproot it without breaking the slender 

 stem. This tuber is edible and pungent tasting, giving the 

 plant its name of ground-nut. 



20 



