286 ARALIACEiE. Arali*. 



mag. t. 1085 ; Lodd. hot. cab. t. 1306 ; Torr. ft. 1. p. 328 ; DC. prodr. 4. p. 258 ; Hook, 

 ft. Bor.-Am. l.p. 274 ; Beck, hot. p. 151 ; Torr.<^- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 647. 



Stem 1 — 2 feet high, the base rather stout and woody ; the bristles spreading. Leaflets 

 about an inch long, sessile or nearly so, acute at the base, smooth. Umbels pedunculate and 

 often fastigiate ; the rays very slender, nearly an inch long, spreading. Calyx-tube turbinate, 

 obtusely 5-angled : teeth small, acute. Petals white, ovate. Stamens exserted. Styles 

 united below, spreading above. Fruit blackish when mature, with five projecting angles : 

 endocarp thick and somewhat crustaceous. 



Rocky banks of rivers, and in dry rather poor soils. June - July. 



2. PANAX. Linn. ; Lam. ill. t.Q60; Endl. gen. Ai^X. aiSSENG. 



[From the Greek, pan, all, and a}:os, a remedy; a universal remedy or panacea, it being consideKd by the Tartars and 

 Chinese a medicine for all diseases.] 



Flowers polygamous. Limb of the calyx very short, obscurely 5-toothed. Petals 5, spreading. 

 Stamens 5. Fruit fleshy, drupaceous, compressed, orbicular or didymous, 2 - 3-celled ; 

 the endocarp rather thin and somewhat coriaceous. — Perennial herbs, shrubs or trees, 

 somewhat diverse in habit. Petioles sheathing at the base. 



§. EuPANAx, Torr. & Gr. Herbaceous and unarmed : root tuberous : 'leaves ternately verticillate at 



the summit of the low simple stem, palmately compound : umbel solitary, simple, on a long peduncle. 



1. Panax qdinquefolium, Linn. Common Ginseng. 



Root fusiform, often branched ; leaflets mostly 5, on distinct footstalks, obovate-oblong, 

 acuminate, the midrib and nerves mostly smooth ; the lateral ones smaller ; peduncle about 

 the length of the petioles ; styles and cells of the ovary 2 (one of each often abortive). — 

 Linn. sp. 2. p. 1058; Miclix.Jl. l.p. 256; Pursh,fl. l.p. 191 ; Bat. mag. t. 1333 ; Bigel. 

 med. hot. 3. p. S2. t. 29, and fl. Bost. p. 375 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 292 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. 

 p. 273; Beck, hot. p. 152; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 181 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 648. 



Roots fleshy, transversely wTinkled, 3-6 inches long, whitish, slightly aromatic and 

 sweetish. Stem about a foot high, divided at the summit into 3 equal spreading petioles which 

 are 3 - 4 inches in length. Leaflets rarely more than 5, very thin and menibranaceous, the 

 terminal and two lateral ones 3-5 inches long ; the others smaller, doubly and unequally 

 serrate : petioles 2-3 inches long. Peduncle nearly as long as the petioles. Umbel 8-16- 

 flowered ; the central flowers often abortive. Involucres consisting of several fenceolate-acute 

 leaflets. Calyx-teeth triangular, acute. Petals ovate-oblong, yellowish-green. Styles at first 

 erect, at length spreading. Fruit reniform, somewhat compressed ; one of the carpels often 

 abortive, and then gibbous, bright crimson when ripe. Sometimes the fruit is tricarpellary, 

 with 3 styles. 



Shady woods, in rich soil. Fl. July. Fr. September. 



