The Wild Sarsaparilla, a perennial herb, of old cowboy fame, is common throughout Nova Scotia. Sarsaparilla like "dry woodlands and old forests." (Bibliography.htm#Roland">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.
