Ginseng Family (Araliaceæ)
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) has a single, large, compound leaf on a long stem from the creeping, fragrant, aromatic root. The flowers are gathered into three, rounded umbels at the top of a long stem that joins the leaf-stem near its base. Common in moist woodland from Newfoundland to Minn. and southward.
Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) is well known as the plant that is collected and cultivated for its thick, fleshy, branching roots. The plant grows from 8 to 18 inches high. Three compound leaves, each consisting of five ovate-pointed, toothed, short-stemmed leaflets, radiate from near the top of the smooth stem. It is found in rich, cold woods from Quebec to Minn., southward.
Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolium) is a tiny species from 4 to 8 inches high. It has a spherical root, slender stem, three leaves compounded of three leaflets each, and numerous tiny white flowers in an umbel above them. Common in rich woods from N. S. to Minn. and southward.