WILD SARSAPARILLA 



Aralia nudicaulis L. 



May When luid-^Iay is here and the settled feeling of early 



Hilly woods smniucr has come to the woods — when the trees all have 

 tlieir leaves and once again there is iinaecustomed deep 

 sliadr. and the hirds which nest here have all arrived — the wild sarsapa- 

 rilhi blooms. Its leaves stand on stiff stems two feet or so above the forest 

 iloor. l']aeli stem Id-aiichcs thrci^ times as comjioiind oval leaves. The ])lant 

 looks something like the ginseng, but on examination it has great ililfer- 

 enees. Now one. of those differences, the llowcr stalk rising separately 

 from the stem, stands almost half as tall as thf plant and branches three 

 directions. On each, of the three forks there is a round cluster of small 

 greenish-yellow llowers witii i)rotruding stamens. For a little while, the 

 sarsaparilla blinnns, and then the little flowers fall away and by June 

 there are tiny green fruits where tlie llowers grew. \\\ this time the 

 woods are growing weedy and deej)ly shadowed: the led-eyed vireo sings 

 all day, no matter how hot, and tbe wood tlirush is nesting in an oak. 



By late summer and early autumn the Aralia has a cluster of deeji 

 maroon fruits which resemble eldeiberries. but aie not as soft as the 

 latter. Eobins often eat them. 



Meanwhile the leaves have ripened and sent tln'ir food into the 

 fleshy roots down in the woods earth. They are stout roots which are 

 aromatic and spicy ; they fre(iuently have been used as a substitute for 

 the true sarsaparilla. a tropical Sniilax. 



J)G 



