PKNTANDRIA PENTAGYN1A 209 



gib. Rich moist woodlands ; Brandy wine : not common. FL May. />. Sept. 

 Obs. The only 8f>ccie8 in the U. States. 



[Stcllaria media. Decatidria T^rigynia.'} 



[Hypericum Sarothra. Polyandria Di- Pentagynia.'} 



Order 5. Pcntagynia. 



161. ARALIA. X. JYutt. Gen. 297. 

 [A name of unknown derivation; supposed to be of Canadian origin.] 



Calyx with the limb short, 5-toothed, or entire. Petals 5, with the 

 apex free and expanded. Styles spreading, persistent. Ovary infe- 

 rior. Berry mostly 5-celled, and 5-secded, often torose. 



Herbaceous, or shrubby: leaves compound; flowers in umbels, or compound 

 umbellate racemes. Nat. Ord. 1. LdmU. Araliace^, 



1. A, nudicaulis, L. Stem very short, or none ; leaf mostly solita- 

 ry, radical, triquinate ; leaflets ovate, or oblong-oval, acuminate, serrate; 

 scape shorter than the leaf, naked, trifid at summit ; umbels 3, on long 

 peduncles, without involucres. Becky B*t. p. 151. 



Naked-stem Ah alia. Vulgo — SaTsaparilla. Wild Spikenard. £l- 



Root perennial, creeping, thick, somewhat aromatic. Stem scarcely more than 

 the naked crown of the root, Leaf generally solitary, from the root ; petiole erect, 

 6 to 12 inches long, 3-parted at summit, each division or secondary petiole 2 to 4 or 

 5 inches long, usually bearing 5 leaflets ; leaflets odd-pinnate, usually 2 to 4 inches 

 long, and 1 to 2 inches wide (sometimes nearly twice that size), 6essile, or on short 

 petioles, smooth. Scape 4 to 6 or 8 inches long, arising from the crown of the root, 

 with sheathing stipules at base, divided at summit into 3smoothish peduncles about 

 2 inches long, each bearing a naked many-flowered globose umbel, an inch to an 

 inch and a half in diameter. Calyx with 5 small acute teeth. Petals greenish 

 white, oblong, rather obtuse. Stamens longer than the petals. Styles distinct, 

 somewhat spreading, nearly as long as the ovary / stigmas small. Berries dark 

 purple or purplish black at maturity, torose, when dry and shrunk becoming 5- 

 angled and deeply sulcate. Seeds compressed, oval-oblong, obtuse, obliquely mu- 

 crsnate. 

 Hob. Rich, rocky woodlands: frequent. FL May. /V.July. 



Obs. The root of this has a somewhat aromatic but mawkish taste ; and is often 

 used as a substitute for the Sarsaparilla of the shops, in making popular diet-drinks. 

 I consider both the original and the substitute to be very innocent medicines, — 

 provided the symptoms of disease be not urgent! 



2. A. racemosa, X. Stem herbaceous, smooth, somewhat divaricate- 

 ly branching ; petioles 3-parted ; divisions ternate and quinate ; leaflet* 

 cordate-ovate, acuminate, doubly serrate ; racemes axillary, compound, 

 paniculately umbellate; involucres small. Beck, Bot. p. 151. 

 Racemose Akalia. Vulgo — Spikenard. 



Root perennial, thick, aromatic. Stem 3 to 5 feet high, branched; branches 

 somewhat dichotomous, spreading. Leaves tcrnately and quinalely decompound- 

 ed / leaflets 3 to 6 or 8 inches long, and 2 to 4 or 5 inches wide, obliquely cordate- 

 ovate, sprinkled with short hairs, mostly pctiolate. Racemes large, paniculate, 



'38* 



