This is my third spring of trying to photograph and identify this handsome, small spring ephemeral. Last weekend gave me three sunny days for photography, and here it is: dwarf ginseng, Panax trifolius. I kept trying to reconcile the flowers with the Saxifragaceae, a mistake I made using the key in The Flora of West Virginia (WVU, 1972). When I finally read through all the "wrong" families, (my last resort--trial and error approach--it's a common flower, it has to be in here somewhere) I found it in the Araliaceae. Apparently, it has the panacea reputation of our other ginseng species, P. quinquefolia, and is recommended for everything from gout to existential malaise.
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