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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Wild Sarsaparilla at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
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Marion Satterlee cob_wild_sarsaparilla
An illustration from How To Know The Wild Flowers by Frances Theodora, 1893.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_arnu2_001_lvd
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_arnu2_002_lhd
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JK Marlow jkm120505_973
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
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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).
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JK Marlow jkm120505_984
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_989
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Polygamous plants have unisexual and bisexual flowers.
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JK Marlow jkm120517_098
May Yancey County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm120517_102
May Yancey County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm140519_915
May Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
Can you tell the young Hickory from the Wild Sarsaparilla?
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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).
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JK Marlow jkm140607_572
June Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
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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).
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JK Marlow jkm140607_575
June Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
)
JK Marlow jkm230609_3991
June Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
)
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).
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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
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)
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!
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p147
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p182
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p217
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p164
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p041
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p206
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p111
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