OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Apiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-03-002:

Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Aralia nudicaulis

 

COMMON NAME:
Wild Sarsaparilla


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

Marion Satterlee    cob_wild_sarsaparilla

        

An illustration from How To Know The Wild Flowers by Frances Theodora, 1893.

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_arnu2_001_lvd

        

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_arnu2_002_lhd

        

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120505_973

May    Rabun County    GA

Chattahoochee National Forest

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120505_976

May    Rabun County    GA

Chattahoochee National Forest

Greenish flowers usually in 3 small umbels on a separate stalk, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120505_984

May    Rabun County    GA

Chattahoochee National Forest

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120505_989

May    Rabun County    GA

Chattahoochee National Forest

Polygamous plants have unisexual and bisexual flowers.

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120517_098

May    Yancey County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm120517_102

May    Yancey County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm140519_915

May    Jackson County    NC

Big Ridge Preserve

Can you tell the young Hickory from the Wild Sarsaparilla?

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

Ron Lance    rwl_aralianudicaulis2

May    Jackson County    NC

Leaf umbrella-like over the flowers, divided into 3 groups of 5 leaflets, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm140607_572

June    Jackson County    NC

Whiteside Mountain

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm140607_572b

June    Jackson County    NC

Whiteside Mountain

The 5 styles are separate, 2-3mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm140607_575

June    Jackson County    NC

Whiteside Mountain

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm230609_3991

June    Jackson County    NC

Whiteside Mountain

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm090923_060

September    Hancock County    ME

Acadia National Park

A. nudicaulis probably warrants removal to a separate monotypic genus, following various studies, per Weakley's Flora (2022).

image of Aralia nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla

JK Marlow    jkm130905_810

September        New Brunswick, Canada

Has a single compound leaf with 3 primary forks, each with 3-5 leaflets, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 139-03-002:
Aralia nudicaulis   FAMILY Araliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aralia nudicaulis

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

115

Forb
Perennial
Polygamous

Habitat: Upland forests and woodlands, rocky places, most typically in rather dry places, such as ridgetop forests, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in NC Mountains, uncommon in NC Piedmont (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems and leaves unarmed

LEAVES:
Ternately compound, each division with 3-5 leaflets
Plant acaulescent (without aerial stems). Leaves usually solitary

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish-white
Radially symmetrical
5 sepals
5 petals
5 stamens
Inferior ovary
Mostly bisexual

Flowers in umbels

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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