Araliaceae, the Sarsaparilla Family
Herbs or thorny shrubs, with alternate or whorled leaves, and small flowers in umbels; sepals 5, minute; petals and stamens each 5; ovary inferior, with 2-5 styles, ripening into a berry.
| 1a. Leaves simple, palmately lobed (thorny shrub; flowers greenish-white, in panicles, in June) | Devil’s Club, Fatsia horrida. |
| 1b. Leaves once compounded, whorled (umbel one, terminal) — 2. | |
| 1c. Leaves twice or thrice compounded (umbels several) — 3. | |
| 2a. Leaflets sessile; flowers white, in spring (1-2 dm. high) | Dwarf Ginseng, Panax trifolium. |
| 2b. Leaflets stalked; flowers greenish, in summer (2-5 dm. high) | Ginseng, Panax quinquefolium. |
| 3a. Stem and petioles spiny or bristly (flowers white, summer) — 4. | |
| 3b. Stem and petioles smooth or a little pubescent (flowers greenish-white) — 5. | |
| 4a. Shrubby, with stout thorns (1-3 m. high) | Hercules’ Club, Aralia spinosa. |
| 4b. Herbaceous, with slender bristles (4-10 dm. high) | Bristly Sarsaparilla, Aralia hispida. |
| 5a. Stem-leaves present; leaflets cordate at the base (8-15 dm. high; summer) | Spikenard, Aralia racemosa. |
| 5b. Leaf and flower-stalk arising from the ground; leaflets acute at the base (2-4 dm. high; spring) | Wild Sarsaparilla, Aralia nudicaulis. |