156 AKALIACEJE. 



The genus comprises two sub-genera, Aralia proper and Ginseng 

 (Panax Linne"). 



Aralia. Flowers monceciously polygamous or perfect. Styles and 

 cells of the ovary 5. Fruit black or dark purple. 



Aralia spinosa Linne. Angelica Tree, Hercules Club. 



Description. A shrub or low tree. Stem and petioles prickly. Leaves 

 bipinnately compound ; leaflets ovate, serrate, acuminate, glabrous above, 

 glaucous beneath. Umbels in a very large, much-branched panicle. 

 Flowers white, appearing in July and August. 



Habitat. In damp woods on river-banks from Pennsylvania to Florida 

 and westward. 



Aralia r ac e m o sa Linne. Spikenard. 



Description. An herbaceous perennial. Stem 3 to 5 feet high, divari- 

 cately branched. Leaves ternately or quinately decompound ; leaflets cor- 

 date-ovate, doubly serrate, acuminate, slightly pubescent. Umbels small 

 and numerous, in large doubly compound racemose panicles. Flowers 

 small, greenish-white, appearing in July. The roots are large and fleshy, 

 and have, as well as the whole plant, an aromatic but not altogether 

 agreeable odor. 



Habitat. In rich woods from Canada to Georgia and westward. 



Aralia nudicaulis Linne. Wild Sarsaparilla. 



Description. An herbaceous perennial. Root or rhizome long, pros- 

 trate, creeping just beneath the surface of the ground. Stem very short, 

 bearing a single long-stalked leaf and a shorter scape. Petiole 3-cleft, 

 each division pinnately 5-foliate ; leaflets oblong-ovate, or oval, serrate, 

 acuminate Scape with 2 to 7 umbels of greenish- white flowers. Fruit 

 purplish-black. The flowers appear in May and June. 



Habitat. In rich moist woods from Canada to the mountains of the 

 Southern States. 



Ginseng (Panax Linne). Flowers diceciously polygamous. Styles and 

 cells of the ovary 2 or 3. Fruit red or reddish. 



Aralia quinquefolia Decaisne and Planchon (Panax quinquefolium 

 Linne). Ginseng. 



Description, An herbaceous perennial. Root large and spindle-shaped. 

 Stem 1 foot high, bearing at its summit a whorl of three palmately 3- to 7- 

 foliate leaves and a single umbel ; leaflets obovate-oblong, acuminate. 

 Peduncle naked, slender, about as long as the petioles ; flowers yellowish- 

 green, appearing in July. 



Habitat. In rich upland woods from Canada to the mountains of the 

 Southern States. 



Parts Used. Of A spinosa, the bark ; of A. racemosa, A. nudicaulis, and 

 A. quinquefolia the root. None of the plants are official. 



Constituents. In the bark of A. spinosa have been found two acrid res- 

 ins, a volatile oil, and what is thought to be an uncrystallizable alkaloid, 



