The Busy Woman s Garden Book 



forms root rhizomes which send up volunteer 

 plants at each joint. These should be removed 

 and replanted. This is one of the most beauti- 

 ful ornamentals with which I am acquainted, 

 quite rivalling the Japanese maples. The leaves 

 are compound or pinnate, fifteen to eighteen 

 inches long and of a dark, rich green on the upper 

 side, glaucous beneath and with a rich red mid- 

 rib — an elegant fern-like spray which is very use- 

 ful in cut flower work and in autumn turns to the 

 most vivid crimson imaginable. It does best 

 when protected from severe wind, from which it 

 seems to shrink, distorting its symmetrical 

 growth. In good rich soil a half dozen offshoots 

 may appear the second year after planting and 

 after one has once become familiar with its beauty 

 all will be welcome. 



Another small tree or shrub with similar char- 

 acteristics is the Aralia spinosa or Hercules' club 

 as it is commonly called. This also has the com- 

 pound leaves somewhat resembling the black 

 walnut but of gigantic j^i'opoi'^ions, two to 

 three feet in length and of equal breadth, giving 



294 



