BLACK OR DARK PURPLE 223 



or more smaller clusters of fruits. The clusters 

 are compact and globular in appearance. The 

 black berrylike drupes composing them are 

 globular and about the size of peas. At the top 

 of each is visible the opening of the calyx tube, 

 with its minute teeth. Projecting through and 

 beyond this are the five styles. The drupe is 

 five-celled, with one nutlet in each cell. The 

 green fruits are ridged, showing the five-celled 

 structure externally ; but when ripe the drupes 

 are nearly smooth. July, August. 



Leaves. — There is usually one, sometimes there 

 are two, long stalked, compound leaves. Each 

 leaf has three divisions of five to seven leaflets 

 each. These are finely toothed and acute at the 

 apex. 



Floioers. ^— The flowers are greenish white, 

 and are borne in umbels composed of from three 

 to seven clusters of bloom. 



The aromatic root serves as a substitute for 

 the South American Sarsaparilla. Bluebirds are 

 recorded as eating the fruit. It favors damp 

 woods, and extends south from Newfoundland 

 to North Carolina and west to the Dakotas. 



