Hercules Club

FAMILY ARALIACEAE

Genus ARALIA, Linn.

Fifty genera of aralias compose a great tropical family. The well-known English ivy (genus Hedera) is perhaps the most familiar representative.

Of the five native species of aralia the spikenards and sarsaparillas are pretty generally known, having a striking luxuriance of growth and a reputation for medicinal properties.

There is a single arborescent species. One tree aralia, the angelica tree of China and Japan, is cultivated in the Northeastern States, where it proves hardy, and our native tree is not. In appearance the two species are much alike, though thornless varieties of the Chinese tree are oftenest met in cultivation.

Hercules Club Tree