130 CLASS V. ORDER V. 



leafets, which are oblong-ovate, finely serrate, acuminate, veined 

 and slightly hispid. The scape rises betvpeen the leaf stalks, and 

 supports a few simple umbels of greenish flowers. Involucre 

 scarcely any. Calyx witli five very short, acute teeth. Petals 

 five, green, with a central nerve, acute, reflexed. Stamens five, 

 ■whitish, erect. Styles five, much shorter, acute, incurved. — 

 Woods and thickets. — May, June. — Perennial. 



Aralia racemosa. L. Pcttijmorrd. Spikenard. 



Stern herbaceous, smooth ; leaves decompouird ; 

 peduncles axillary, branching, umbelled. Willd. 



Tall and irregularly branched. Stem smooth, dark green or 

 red. Leafets large, ovate or heart-shaped, serrate. Flowers in 

 small umbels, which are again arranged in branching racemes, 

 from the axils or forks of the stem. — In woods. — June, July. 



It is aromatic and in high estimation with people of the coun- 

 try. 



Aralia hispida. Midi. Bristly Aralia. 



Stem shrubby at base, hispid ; leaves twice pin- 

 nate ; leafets cut serrate ; umbels on long peduncles. 



The lower part of the stem endures the winter, and has a 

 shrubby appearance, but most of the herb is annual. The stem 

 is set with thick and stiff bristles at the base. Leafets much 

 smaller^^than in the preceding, sharply and unequally serrate, 

 ending in a long point. Umbels several, on long peduncles. 

 Calyx teeth very short, subacute. Corolla greenish white with 

 a prominent rib on the upper side of each petal. Stamens as 

 long as the petals. Styles erect in the flower, but recurved and 

 tipt with black in the fruit. — Woods, Cambridgeport. — June. 



143. LINUM. 

 LiNUM ViRGiNiANUM. Virginian Flax. 



Calyx leaves acute; panicle terminal; flowers alter- 

 nate, remote ; leaves scattered, linear-lanceolate, the 

 radical ones ovate. 



Stem ascending, smooth, very slender, about a foot long. 

 Leaves scattered, sessile, lanceolate, the lower ones obovate, 



