SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
58 ARALIACEZE. 
Asia Aralia spinosa in slightly modified forms appears in Manchuria, Japan, and the Philippine 
Islands;! and a second American species, Aralia quinquefolia, is also found in Manchuria. Japan 
possesses one endemic herbaceous species, and China’ at least two; m the Malay Archipelago the 
largest number of arborescent and shrubby forms are collected,’ and im India the two sections of the 
genus are represented by eight species.’ 
Aralia has few useful properties. In China ginseng, the root of Aralia quinquefolia,’ is prized 
in medicine, and in Japan the roots and young shoots of Aralia cordata® are eaten as vegetables. 
The roots of the American Aralia spinosa, Aralia racemosa, Aralia nudicaulis, and Aralia 
hispida® are sometimes used in domestic practice as gentle stimulants and aperitives, chiefly in the 
treatment of rheumatism and syphilitic symptoms.” 
The generic name is of obscure and doubtful meaning. 
1 Aralia hypoleuca, Pres], Epimel. Bot. 250 (1849). — Walpers, 
Ann. i. 724. 
2 Forbes & Hemsley, Jour. Linn. Soc. xxiii. 337. 
8 Miquel, Fl. Ind. Bat. i. 749. 
4 Hooker f. Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 721. 
5 Decaisne & Planchon, Rev. Hort. 1854, 105. — Gray, Mem. Am. 
Acad. n. ser. vi. 391. — Forbes & Hemsley, J. c. 338.— Watson & 
Coulter, Gray’s Man. ed. 6, 213. 
Panax quinquefolium, Linneus, Spec. 1058 (1753).— De Can- 
dolle, Prodr. iv. 252. — Seemann, Jour. Bot. vi. 54. 
Panax Americanum, Rafinesque, New Fil. iv. 58 (1836). 
Panax Ginseng, C. A. Meyer, Bull. Cl. Phys.-Math. Acad. Sci. 
St. Pétersbourg, i. 340 (1843). — Seemann, I. c. 
Ginseng quinquefolium, Wood, Bot. and Fl. 142 (1870). 
In China from the earliest historic times the roots of Aralia quin- 
quefolia have enjoyed the reputation of possessing marvelous medi- 
eal virtues, and fabulous prices are paid for the wild Manchurian 
roots which are more esteemed than those of cultivated or of 
American plants, and are now almost entirely consumed in the Im- 
perial household. The root is fleshy, spindle-shaped, with two or 
three terminal divisions, from one to four inches long, semitrans- 
In China 
the drug prepared from the root of the Ginseng, which apparently 
parent and yellowish, with 4 sweet mucilaginous flavor. 
possesses no active properties, is prescribed for nearly every form 
of human disease, and as a tonic and stimulant it is considered in- 
valuable (Raynal, Histoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablisse- 
mens & du Commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes, ii. 210. — 
Jartoux, Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses (ed. Toulouse), xviii. 97, t. — 
Seemann, J. c. ii. 320. — Smith, Chinese Mat. Med. 103). 
The extinction of the Manchurian supply led to the importation 
of the American root, and for more than a century immense quan- 
tities of wild American Ginseng-roots have been sent to China 
from the eastern United States, where the plant has become rare 
and is in danger of extermination. (See Lafitau, Mémoire con- 
cernant la précieuse plante du Gin-seng de Tartarie, découverte en 
Canada. — Michaux f. Voyage a Vouest des Monts Alléghanys, 
182. — Rafinesque, Med. Fl. ii.53.— W. P. C. Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 
193, t. 45. — Woodville, Med. Bot. ii. 270, t. 99.) For centuries the 
Asiatic Ginseng, which was first known to Europeans in Japan, has 
been cultivated on a large scale in that country (Kaempfer, Amen. 
Exot. 826.— Rein, The Industries of Japan, 136) ; in some parts of 
Corea it constitutes the most important farm crop (Aston, Pharma- 
ceutical Journal and Transactions, 1885, 732), and recently attempts 
have been made to cultivate it in the northern United States (Stan- 
ton, Garden and Forest, v. 223. — Kew Bull. 1893, 71, t.). 
6 Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 127 (1784).— Miquel, Ann. Mus. Lugd. 
Bat. i. 9. — Franchet & Savatier, Enum. Pl. Jap. i. 191. 
Aralia edulis, Siebold & Zuccarini, Fl. Jap. i. 57, t. 25 (1835). 
7 Linneus, J. c. 273 (1753).— Chapman, Fl. 166.— Watson & 
Coulter, J. c. 
8 Linneus, l. c. 274 (1753). — Chapman, J. c. — Watson & Coul- 
ter, 1. c. 
9 Ventenat, Jard. Cels, 41, t. 41 (1800). — Chapman, J. c. — 
Watson & Coulter, J. c. 
10 Porcher, Resources of Southern Fields and Forests, 51. — John- 
son, Man. Med. Bot. N. Am. 156.— U. S. Dispens. ed. 16, 1714. 
