222 PLANTS GROWING IN LIGHT SOIL. 



FIVE-LEAVED GINSENG. 



Pdnax quinquefblium. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Ginseng. Greenish, white. Scentless. Vermont to Minn, July^ August. 



southward to Georgia. 



Flowers: imperfect; clustered in a slender-stalked umbel. Calyx: short; 

 with five small teeth. Corolla: of five petals. Stamens: five. Pistil: one. 

 Fruit: a bright red berry. Leaves : three, whorled below the flowers and pal- 

 mately divided into three to five ovate, pointed leaflets on each of the three 

 petioles. Stem : about one foot high. Roots : forked ; aromatic. 



This plant is eagerly sought for in the woods not only by 

 lovers of flowers, who appreciate it as a rarity, but also by 

 those who consider the commercial value of its roots. It is 

 closely allied to the true Mandchurian ginseng of China and is 

 exported there from this country in large quantities. The 

 Chinese regard its stimulating properties as more powerful than 

 those of any other drug to invigourate the system. As is the 

 case with the Mediterranean mandrake, the forked specimens 

 are thought to resemble the human form, and the name ginseng 

 is a corruption of the Chinese Jintsan, meaning like a man. 

 The plant has not, however, so uncanny a reputation as the 

 mandrake and does not cry out when uprooted from the earth. 



WILD SARSAPARILLA. 



Ardlia nudicaulis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Ginseng. Greenish white. Scentless. General. June. 



Flowers: clustered in an umbel on a short naked scape. Calyx : short ; with 

 five small teeth. Corolla: of five petals. Stamens: five. Pistil: one. 

 Fruit : dark purple. Leaves : one only; growing much higher than the flowers 

 and divided into five oval toothed leaflets on each of the three petioles. Roots : 

 slender; running horizontally. 



It is said that the gods compensate an ugly mother by giving 

 her a beautiful child, and we often notice that rather plain- 

 looking flowers produce very attractive fruit. It is so with the 

 wild sarsaparilla, the close bunches of dark, shining berries 

 protected by their handsome leaves being a conspicuous feat- 

 ure of the late summer woods. The roots are gathered and sold 

 in quantities to flavour summer drinks, or as a substitute for 

 the genuine sarsaparilla. 



