The Wild Sarsaparilla, a perennial herb, of old cowboy fame, is common throughout Nova Scotia. Sarsaparilla like "dry woodlands and old forests." (Roland.) Forey reports that the early native populations used to steep the rhizomes of the Wild Sarsaparilla to make a tonic or root beer. Its blossoms, which are white with a green hue, are to be seen early in summer. Leaves ("long-stalked, pinnately divided sections") and the flowers (formed on rounded umbels) are born by separate stalks. The berries are blue/black.
