Plant Talk: The Ginseng Family, Araliaceae
- jessica36732
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
By Patsy Cotterill
With only one species occurring in our local Central Parkland region, we might be surprised to find that the ginseng family, Araliaceae, has a widespread distribution, with representatives in the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands.
Most of the 1,500 species in the family are woody, but our local species, wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), is a herbaceous perennial. Family characteristics include large, often divided (compound) leaves, and small, five-parted flowers that are arranged in clusters called umbels with all flower stalks arising from a single point. The fruits are berry-like.
The family is closely related to the carrot family (Apiaceae, formerly Umbelliferae) which also has small white (or yellow) flowers arranged in umbels and, often, divided leaves.
Interestingly, the Latin name of the family derives from the genus Aralia, but the common name, ginseng, comes from Asian ginseng, Panax ginseng. The genus Panax is the source of the well-known, multi-purpose medicinal herbs, and is found in east Asia (16 species) with a disjunct distribution of two species in eastern North America, including Canada. Of these two, American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, is the most widespread. It bears a strong resemblance to our wild sarsaparilla.
Wild sarsaparilla derives its Latin epithet (nudicaulis, meaning “naked stem”) from the fact that the flower stalk and leaf stalk arise separately from the underground rhizome so they appear separately (albeit close together) above ground, meaning that the flower stalk lacks leaves and technically there is no stem as such. The large leaves can reach 30 cm tall on long stalks and are twice-divided, first into three stalked leaflets which are then again divided into three or five ovate-lanceolate, pointed, minutely saw-toothed leaflets 3-6 cm long. The flower stalks typically bear three umbels of small, greenish or whitish flowers, their five petals spreading at first but later downturned, with five stamens and five spreading styles. The round, clustered fruits are green at first but become dark blackish-purple at maturity and contain several seeds. They are considered inedible to humans.
Flowering umbels of Aralia nudicaulis, Patricia Ravine, 2011-05-30. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Leaf stalk and separate flower stalk of Aralia nudicaulis growing from rhizome in garden, Edmonton, 2019-06-04. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Ripe fruits of Aralia nudicaulis. (Stock photo.)
Fall foliage of Aralia nudicaulis growing in a garden, Edmonton, 2024-09-14. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Wild sarsaparilla is functionally dioecious, i.e., male flowers, which produce pollen, and female flowers, which develop fruit, are on separate plants (clones). The inflorescences of male plants are more showy; they have larger umbels containing more flowers (e.g., ca. 40 per umbel) as compared to female plants which have about 25 flowers per umbel. The outspreading white stamens add to the conspicuity of the inflorescence. Female umbels look smaller and greener, as the downturned white petals wither and fall off and the five, green stigmas remain above a swelling green ovary. The spreading stigmas also give the umbel a spiky appearance.
Male plants are produced in greater numbers than females, and this skewed sex ratio explains why fruits can sometimes be difficult to find. Pollination is by insects.
Male umbels of Aralia nudicaulis showing ripe stamens, Wedgewood Ravine, 2025-05-31. Photo: D. Liknes.
Maturing female flowers, showing stigmas and developing fruits, of Aralia nudicaulis, in river valley at Rio Terrace, 2025-06-04. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Wild sarsaparilla frequents moist woods. Locally it seems to especially favour those that contain white spruce, although this may be because such forests are more mature. It often forms an extensive herbaceous canopy above the forest floor, spreading by means of rhizomes. Even densely shaded plants can thrive, as they receive nutrients from the better situated plants to which they are connected by these underground stems.
Wild sarsaparilla blooms in May to June. By mid-May it is often conspicuous by its dark, bronze-purple, unfolding leaves which have a high content of the protective pigment anthocyanin. The leaves turn green as they mature and chlorophyll develops. Similarly, in the fall, as the chlorophyll breaks down and is resorbed, the plants put on a brilliant crimson-purple show.
The species is widely distributed in woods across Canada. It has two sister species in Canada, bristly sarsaparilla (Aralia hispida), which occurs from Saskatchewan eastwards, and American spikenard (Aralia racemosa), which is distributed from Manitoba eastwards.
Wild sarsaparilla is difficult to grow from seed but can be established from portions of rhizome, especially those enmeshed in soil. It is suited for partial to full shade.
Wild sarsaparilla has been widely used by Indigenous peoples for medicine and food (although not the fruits). Incidentally, true sarsaparilla, the source of the well-known drink, derives from Smilax, which are tropical and subtropical plants in the family Smilacaceae. The roots of wild sarsaparilla can be used to make root beer, however, and the species is sometimes the target of foraging.
Given that its large leaves are rather similar to those of western poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans var. rydbergii), care should be taken to distinguish the two. Poison ivy, however, has only three leaflets to the leaf and these lack teeth. It is much less common than wild sarsaparilla in Alberta.
Devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus) is the other member of the ginseng family that occurs in Alberta, as well as in B.C., where it is much more common, with a disjunct occurrence in Ontario. Known populations occur in the Marten Mountain region of Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park and in the Whitecourt area.
It is a coarse, spreading shrub, growing 1-3 m high. It gets its Latin epithet, horridus, from the fact that it is densely beset with spines and prickles. The alternate, long-stalked leaves are broad, up to 30 cm wide and palmately 5-7-lobed with uneven teeth at the margin and prickles on the veins below. The umbels of small whitish flowers form an elongate-pyramidal inflorescence and are replaced later in the summer by bright-red, two-seeded berries.
The main distribution of devil’s club is in the Pacific Northwest, where it is also a denizen of moist woods. It is especially common near streams, where its large leaves create shade and reduce water temperature, benefitting salmon and their eggs.
This shrub is not recommended for home gardens in the Parkland region!
Foliage and early fruiting inflorescence of Oplopanax horridus (devil’s club) in forest on Marten Mountain, Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, 2009-07-28. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Oplopanax horridus showing spines and prickles on stem and leaf stalks, Quadra Island, BC, 2015-07-15. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Foliage and mature fruiting clusters of Oplopanax horridus, Kokanee Creek Provincial Park, BC, 2024-08-10. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Other members of the Araliaceae include Schefflera or umbrella plant, the popular house plant. The genus Schefflera is native to New Zealand and other Pacific Islands.
Schefflera digitata (umbrella plant) at Haast Motel, South Island, New Zealand, 2016-11-04. Photo: P. Cotterill.
Possibly Pseudopanax colensoi var. ternatus (mountain fivefinger), Mt Creighton, South Island, New Zealand, 2016-11-07. Photo: P. Cotterill.
English ivy (Hedera helix) will be familiar to many through cultural associations (“the holly and the ivy”) even if they have not seen it. Native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia, it is a climbing evergreen vine that can form extensive ground cover in forests and often ascends trees. It has been introduced in B.C. and Ontario. We are lucky not to have it in Alberta as even in its native lands it can be considered invasive. It should definitely not be planted.
Although the ginseng family does not have diverse representation in Alberta, it is of considerable significance worldwide. Our local species, wild sarsaparilla, produces substantial biomass and is common and widespread enough to be ecologically important.
Author's note: This has been a fantastic year for wild sarsaparilla. It has flowered profusely and has spread in canopy coverage. This is a testament to the importance of vegetative reproduction in maintaining and expanding a species' ground cover, while also retaining sexual reproduction to provide the potential for evolutionary change.
