Aralia racemosa L.

American spikenard, small spikenard, Indian root, spice berry, spignet, life-of-man, petty morel

American spikenard is native to much of eastern North America.

When I first encountered this plant, the mass of unripe whitish berries clustered at branch nodes made me immediately think of poison ivy. Had I crossed paths with it a couple of weeks later, though, I’d have seen the berries turn ruby, then purplish, red. Poison ivy berries remain a waxy white color.

Plants: 3–5′ (91–152 cm) in height and width. Roots are aromatic.

Leaves: Large compound leaves have three main sections, each further divided into 9 to 21 ovate, stalked, leaflets, with heart-shaped bases. Leaflets are 1¾–6″ (5–15 cm) long.

Flowers: Large racemes consist of branched clusters of smaller clusters of flowers. Flowers are greenish-white, star-shaped, ⅛″ (3.2 mm) in size, with white stamens. Flower stalks have short white hairs, giving them a frosted appearance. Flowers appear from June to August. To a gardener, the flowers are under­whelming, but up close they look pretty cool.

Fruits: Dense clusters of berries up to ¼″ (6.3 mm) in size turn a deep reddish purple. They ripen in September.

Habitats: Wooded slopes and ravines, shaded moist ledges, and bluffs

Edibility: Ripe berries are edible. They taste good and can be used to make jam.

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Aralia racemosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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