PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS.
CLASS I. VASCULARES. Flowering Plants.
S ub-class I. EXO G EN JE. Dicotyledones.
TRIBE I. ANGIOSPERMiE,
(Or having seeds enclosed in a pericarp or covering.)
1. Polypetalous, Apetalous, and Jlchlamydeous Plants.
ORDER 1. ARALIACEiE. T he A ralia T r ib e .
Flowers in the form of an umbel; leaves compound; fruit
a berry ; permanent calyx standing on the germ or ovary ;
stamens 5 or 6, 10 or 12, rising within the border of the calyx or
flower-cup.
This is a small order, embracing, in Massachusetts, only two
genera and five species, though the plants of the order are found
widely scattered over North America, and in China, Japan, New
Zealand, &c. Some of them are shrubby, while ours are herbaceous.
The plants possess no properties of much interest.
1. A ralia. L. 5. 5.
The origin of the name is unknown, but a plant of this name
was first sent to Europe from Quebec in 1764., Loudon.
Calyx entire, or 5-toothed ; corol 5-petalled, small; stamens
5 or more, 5 spreading styles ; berry 5 or 10-seeded, crowned
with the styles ; small involucres often on the umbels.
1. A. racemosa. L. Spikenard. Branched, herbaceous
stem ; petioles 3-parted, with ternate or quinate divisions, and