CORNACE^E. (DOGWOOD FAMILY.) 199 



§ 1. ARALIA, L. Flowers monceciously polygamous or perfect, the umbels usually 

 in corymbs or panicles : styles and cells of the (black or dark purple) fruit 5 : steins 

 herbaceous or woody : ultimate divisions of the leaves pinnate. 



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

 pinnately decompound. 



1. A. spindsa, 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 

 (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. nudieaillis, 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. GiNSENG, Decaisne & Planchon. (Panax, L.) Flowers diceciously 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 - 1 -foliolate leaves (or per- 

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

 slender naked peduncle. 



5. A. quinquefdlia. (Ginseng-.) Root large and spindle-shaped, often 

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

 large and thin, obovate-oblong, 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. CORNACEiE. (Dogwood Family.) 



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

 the calyx-tube coherent with the 1 - 2-celled ovary, its limb minute, the petals 

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

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



