
222 PLANTS GROWING IN LIGHT SOIL, 
FIVE-LEAVED GINSENG. 
Panax quinguefolium. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Ginseng. Greenish white. Scentless. Vermont to Minn. July, August. 
southward to Georgia. , 
Flowers: imperfect; clustered in a slender-stalked umbel. Calyx: short; 
with five small teeth. Coro//a: of five petals. Stamens: five. Pistil: one. 
Fruit: abright red berry. Leaves : three, whorled below the flowers and pal- 
mately divided into three to five ovate, pointed leaflets on each of the three 
petioles. Stem: about one foot high. oots : forked; aromatic. 
This plant is eagerly sought for in the woods not only by 
lovers of flowers, who appreciate it as a rarity, but also by 
those who consider the commercial value of its roots. It is 
closely allied to the true Mandchurian ginseng of China and is 
exported there from this country in large quantities. The 
Chinese regard its stimulating properties as more powerful than 
those of any other drug to invigourate the system. As is the 
case with the Mediterranean mandrake, the forked specimens 
are thought to resemble the human form, and the name ginseng 
isa corruption of the Chinese Jintsan, meaning like a man. 
The plant has not, however, so uncanny a reputation as the 
mandrake and does not cry out when uprooted from the earth. 
WILD SARSAPARILLA. 
Aralia nudicaulzs. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Ginseng. Greenish white. Scentless. General. June. 
Flowers: clustered in an umbel on a short naked scape. Ca/yx: short ; with 
five small teeth. Corol/a: of five petals. Stamens: five. stil: one. 
Fruit: dark purple. Leaves: one only; growing much higher than the flowers 
and divided into five oval toothed leaflets on each of the three petioles. Roots: 
slender; running horizontally. 
It is said that the gods compensate an ugly mother by giving 
her a beautiful child, and we often notice that rather plain- 
looking flowers produce very attractive fruit. It is so with the 
wild sarsaparilla, the close bunches of dark, shining berries 
protected by their handsome leaves being a conspicuous feat- 
ure of the late summer woods. The roots are gathered and sold 
in quantities to flavour summer drinks, or as a substitute for 
the genuine sarsaparilla, 

