ARALIACEAE. 175 



as long as the reflexed calyx- lobes; capsules sessile, linear, somewhat 4-sided, 

 usually twisted or bent at the base, 2-3 cm. long. Sandy soil, along Snake 

 River. 



Sphaerostigma andinum (Nutt.) Walp. Canescently puberulent; stems 

 simple or more usually branched from the base, 3-10 cm. high; leaves linear- 

 spatulate, entire, 10-20 mm. long, petioled; flowers sessile, in short dense 

 spikes, the bracts leaf-like; petals yellow, 1-2 mm. long; capsules 6-8 mm. long, 

 canescent; seeds pale, linear. In dried-up ponds especially where alkaline. 



Sphaerostigma hilgardi (Greene) Small. Similar to S. andinum and often 

 growing with it; petals larger, 3-4 mm. long; seeds dark-colored, thicker at 

 one end. Sprague, Sandberg and Leiberg, probably within our limits. 



Family 64. ARALIACEAE. GINSENG FAMILY. 



Perennial herbs, shrubs or trees; leaves simple or compound 

 with dilated petioles; flowers umbellate, paniculate or racemose; 

 calyx adherent to the ovary, the limb entire or toothed; petals 5, 

 epigynous; stamens 5, epigynous, alternate with the petals; 

 styles 2 or more; ovary 2 or more celled, crowned with a disk; 

 fruit a few-celled drupe. 



Herb; leaves compound. 250. ARALIA, 175. 



Shrub; leaves simple. 251. ECHINOPANAX, 175. 



250. ARALIA. 



Aromatic perennial herbs or shrubs with compound leaves; 

 flowers polygamous, in umbels, white or green; ovary 5-celled; 

 ovules solitary. 



Aralia nudicaulis L. Wild Sarsaparilla. Stem very short, mostly sub- 

 terranean; leaf solitary, long-stalked, ternate, each division pinnately 5- 

 foliolate; leaflets oval or ovate, serrate, acuminate; scape shorter than the leaf, 

 naked, bearing 2-7 umbels; flowers greenish-white. In deep woods, Mt. 

 Carlton, Spokane County, and adjacent Idaho. 



251. ECHINOPANAX. 



Stout shrubs, ours very prickly; leaves simple, long-petioled, 

 suborbicular, palmately-lobed ; flowers perfect or polygamous, in 

 numerous umbels which are in racemes or panicles ; calyx-margin 

 narrow or obsolete, obscurely crenate-lobed ; carpels (in ours) 2. 



Echinopanax horridum (Smith) Dene. & Planch. Devil's Club. Shrub; 

 stems 1-4 m. long, mostly decumbent below, armed with pale prickles; leaves 

 all at the summit of the stem, 10-30 cm. broad, palmately 5-13-lobed; lobes 

 acute and serrate; petioles and principal veins prickly beneath ; flowers greenish- 

 yellow; fruit scarlet. Swamps in the Blue Mountains. 



