CORNACEJE. (DOGWOOD FAMILY.) 199 



§ 1. ARALIA, L. Flowers mondeciousli/ polygamous or perfect, the antbefo usually 

 in corymbs or panicles : styles and celts of the (black or dark pur pit) fruit 5 : stents 

 herbaceous or ivooily : ultimate divisions of the leaves pinnate. 



# Umbels very numerous in a large compound panicle : leaves very large, quinately or 

 pinnately decompound. 



1. A. spin6sa, L. (Angelica-tree. Hercules' Club.) Shrub, or a 

 low tree ; the stout stem and stalks prickly ; leaflets ovate, pointed, serrate, pale be- 

 neath. — River-banks, Pennsylvania to Kentucky and southward : common in 

 cultivation. July, August. 



2. A. racemdsa, L. (Spikenard.) Herbaceous; stem widely branched; 

 leaflets heart-ovate, pointed, doubly serrate, slightly downy; umbels racemose; 

 styles united. — Rich woodlands. July. — Well known for its spicy-aromatic 

 large roots. There are traces of stipules at the dilated base of the leafstalks. 



* * Umbels 2-7, corymbed : stem short, somewhat woody. 



3. A. hispida, Michx. (Bristly Sarsaparilla. Wild Elder.) Stem \AjjiO * 

 (l°-2° high), bristly, leafy, terminating in a peduncle bearing several umbels; 



leaves twice pinnate ; leaflets oblong-ovate, acute, cut-serrate. — Rocky places : 

 common northward, and southward along the mountains. June. 



4. A. nudicaulis, L. (Wild Sarsaparilla.) Stem scarcely rising out 

 of the ground, smooth, bearing a single long-stalked leaf and a shorter naked scape, with 

 2-7 umbels; leaflets oblong-ovate or oval, pointed, serrate, 5 on each of the 3 

 divisions. — Moist woodlands ; with the same range as No. 3. May, June. — 

 The aromatic horizontal roots, which are several feet long, are employed as a 

 substitute for the officinal Sarsaparilla. Leafstalk 1° high. 



§2. GtXSEXG, Decaisne & Planchon. (Panax, L.) Flowers diaciously poly- 

 gamous : styles and cells of the (red or reddish ) fruit 2 or 3 : stem herbaceous, low, 

 simple, bearing at its summit a whorl of 3 palmately 3-7-foliolate leaves (or per- 

 haps rather a single and sessile twice-compound leaf), and a single umbel on a 

 slender naked peduncle. 



5. A. quinquefblia. (Ginseng.) Root large and spindle-shaped, often Q^ ^ ^ 

 forked (4' -9' long, aromatic); stem 1° high; leaflets long-stalked, mostly 5, -YjuJWjI- 

 large and thin, obovate-oblonff, pointed ; styles mostly 2 ; fruit bright red. (Pa- 

 nax quinquefolium, L.) — Rich and cool woods : becoming rare. July. 



6. A. trif61ia. (Dwarf Ginseng. Ground-nut.) Root or tuber globular, 

 deep in the ground (pungent to the taste, not aromatic) ; stems 4' - 8' high ; leaf- 

 lets 3-5, sessile at the summit of the leafstalk, narrowly oblong, obtuse; styles 

 usually 3 ; fruit yellowish. — Rich woods : common northward. April, May. 



Hedera Helix, the European Ivy, is almost the only other representative 

 of this family in the northern temperate zone. 



Order 48. CORNACE^E. (Dogwood Family.) 



Shrubs or trees (rarely herbaceous), with opposite or alternate simple leaves, 

 the calyx-tube coherent with the l-2-celled ovary, its limb minute, the petals 

 (valvate in the bud) and as many stamens borne on the margin of an epujy- 

 nous disk in the perfect flowers ; style one ; a single anatropous ovule hang- 



