UMBELLALES UMBELLIFERAE 



647 



most important of these is the Ginseng, (Panax quinque folium), which is native 

 from eastern Canada to Alabama and in woods from Kentucky to Iowa, Mis- 

 souri, Nebraska and Minnesota. This species is now widely cultivated, large 

 quantities of Ginseng being exported to China, where the roots are in great 

 demand. The Chinese Gingseng is P. ginseng. Several other species are 

 used in medicine, among them the Spikenard (Aralia racemosa), and Wild 

 Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis} . These plants are not officinal, but they are 

 quite commonly used. They have aromatic and stimulating properties. Barring- 

 tonin, C lg H 2 .O 7 (OH) 3 , is found in Barringtonia, a Japanese Aralia, Panax, 

 and other genera. Araliin occurs in the roots of Fatsia horrida. The terpene, 

 aratien, C 15 H 24 . occurs in Aralia midicaulis. Some members of this order are 

 occasionally weedy, especially the Sarsaparilla. Rice paper is made from 

 Tetrapanax papyrifera, native to Formosa. It is a small tree about 10 feet high. 

 The tree is cut into to obtain the pith, which is divided into thin slices and the 

 paper cut with a sharp knife. 



UMBELLIFERAE. Carrot Family. 



Herbs with alternate compound or sometimes simple leaves, petioles often 

 dilated at the base, rarely with stipules; flowers 1, small, in compound or simple 

 umbels or heads, frequently polygamous; calyx tube adnate to the ovary, limb 

 obsolete or 5-toothed; petals 5, inserted on the margin of calyx; stamens 5, 

 inserted on the disk; pistils with 2 styles; fruit dry, composed of 2 carpels: 

 generally spreading from each other at maturity. 



About 1600 species of wide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. 

 A number of the plants of the family are of economic importance, among them 

 the carrot (Dattcus Carota), native to Europe, cultivated before the Christian 

 Era. The thickened roots of the carrot are important as food for man and 



Fig. 368. Turnip rooted Celery or Celeriac 

 (Apium groveolens). (W. S. Dudgeon.) 



