Description
Bristly Sarsaparilla has green, shiny, compound leaves and the stem base covered by bristly hairs. White-cream flowers appear in June-July in round umbels on stalks that diverge at the end of the stems. The fruits are maturing gradually, at times having on the same plant berries in various colours from green to red, and black.
The inflorescences stalks turn red – an outstanding contrast with the black fruits in the fall.
How many wonderful, garden-worthy, but under-utilized native plants we have around! The purplish black fruits resemble a bit the elder fruits, hence the other popular name: dwarf elder.
Germination: sow asap in the fall and keep the pots outdoors over the winter.
I don’t know if it requires first a slightly warm cold/moist stratification (sowing in the fall) like other Aralia species, or just cold/moist stratification. So, if sown in the winter it may germinate in the second spring after sowing. In any case, keep your sowing pots for 2 years.
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