156 araliaceyE. 



The genus comprises two sub-genera, Aralia proper and Ginseng 

 (Panax Linne). 



Aralia. — Flowers monceciously polygamous or perfect. Styles and 

 cells of the ovary 5. Fruit black or dark purple. 



Aralia spinosa Linne. — Angelica Tree, Hercules' Club. 



Description. — A shrub or low tree. Stem and petioles prickly. Leaves 

 bipinnately compound ; leaflets ovate, serrate, acuminate, glabrous above, 

 glaucous beneath. Umbels in a very large, much-branched panicle. 

 Flowers white, appearing in July and August. 



Habitat. — In damp woods on river-banks from Pennsylvania to Florida 

 and westward. 



Aralia racemosa Linne. — Spikenard. 



Description. — An herbaceous perennial. Stem 3 to 5 feet high, divari- 

 cately branched. Leaves ternately or quinately decompound ; leaflets cor- 

 date-ovate, doubly serrate, acuminate, slightly pubescent. Umbels small 

 and numerous, in large doubly compound racemose panicles. Flowers 

 small, greenish-white, appearing in July. The roots are large and fleshy, 

 and have, as well as the whole plant, an aromatic but not altogether 

 agreeable odor. 



Habitat. — In rich woods from Canada to Georgia and westward. 



Aralia nudicaiilis Linne. — Wild Sarsaparilla. 



Description. — An herbaceous perennial. Eoot or rhizome long, pros- 

 trate, creeping just beneath the surface of the ground. Stem very short, 

 bearing a single long-stalked leaf and a shorter scape. Petiole 3-cleft, 

 each division pinnately 5-foliate ; leaflets oblong-ovate, or oval, serrate, 

 acuminate, Scape with 2 to 7 umbels of greenish- white flowers. Fruit 

 purplish-black. The flowers appear in May and June. 



Habitat. — In rich moist woods from Canada to the mountains of the 

 Southern States. 



Ginseng (Panax Linne). — Flowers diceciously polygamous. Styles and 

 cells of the ovary 2 or 3. Fruit red or reddish. 



Aralia quinquefolia Decaisne and Planchon — (Panax quinquefolium 

 Linne). — Ginseng. 



Description. — An herbaceous perennial. Koot large and spindle-shaped. 

 Stem 1 foot high, bearing at its summit a whorl of three palmately 3- to 7- 

 foliate leaves and a single umbel ; leaflets obovate-oblong, acuminate. 

 Peduncle naked, slender, about as long as the petioles ; flowers yellowish- 

 green, appearing in July. 



Habitat. — In rich upland woods from Canada to the mountains of the 

 Southern States. 



Parts Used, — Of A. spinosa, the bark ; of A. racemosa, A. nudicaulis, and 

 A. quinquefolia ; the root. None of the plants are official. 



Constituents. — In the bark of A. spinosa have been found two acrid res- 

 ins, a volatile oil, and what is thought to be an uncrystallizable alkaloid, 



