situation it grows well, and it can be increased quite 

 easily either by seeds or by cuttings. V. betulifolium 

 belongs to a group of closely allied red-fruited species 

 from China, and is most nearly related to V. lobophyllum, 

 Graebner, nor is it easy to find constant characters 

 to separate the two plants. The best probabl> is the 

 shape of the nut, which in V. betulifolium is smaller and 

 nearly circular in outline, in V. lobophyllum ovate, taper- 

 ing to a point at one end and more deeply grooved. 

 The leaves of V. lobophyllum, also, are more uniformly 

 rounded at the base and less deeply toothed. We do 

 not find that the relative lengths of the style and calyx- 

 lobes, the length of the peduncles or the pubescence of 

 the leaves, afford reliable characters. 



Description.— Shrub of bushy habit, probably 4 to 6 

 ft. high ; young wood purplish-brown, glabrous. Leaves 

 ovate and ovate-oblong to broadly rhomboid, acute or 

 acuminate, usually broadly cuneate, sometimes rounded 

 at the base, coarsely dentate in the terminal two-thirds, 

 1|-5| in. long, 1-3J in. wide; main veins in 4-6 pairs 

 running out to the tips of the teeth ; dark green above 

 and glabrous except for a line of stellate pubescence 

 when young on the midrib and chief veins ; pale beneath, 

 with tufts of stellate pubescence in the vein-axils and on 

 the midrib and veins : by the time the fruit is ripe the 

 leaves are nearly or quite glabrous ; petioles ]~l in. long, 

 at first pubescent and furnished near the base with two 

 small subulate stipules £ in. long. Corymbs terminal, 

 7 -rayed, 2-41 in. wide ; peduncles J-l in. long, glabrous 

 or slightly pubescent, subdivided three or four times. 

 Flowers white, crowded, T \ in. wide ; pedicels glandular, 

 v m. long. Calyx minute, its five lobes sparingly ciliate. 

 Corolla 5-lobed ; lobes orbicular. Stamens 5, longer than 

 the corolla; anthers yellow. Ovary glandular; style 

 about twice as long as the calyx-lobes. Fruit a red 

 globose drupe, i in. wide ; stone compressed, roundish. 



Fig. 1, flowers ; 2, calyx and pistil; 3, stamens :— all enlarged. 



