1846 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



and Asia Minor. Many cultivated varieties are commonly grown in Britain. 

 Fatsia japonica (Fig. 1749) is a favourite room-plant with large palmate 

 leaves. 



Fig. 1749- — Fatsia japonica. (Commonly 

 called Aralia sieboldii.) Flowering shoot. 



Tetrapanax papyrifera, a native of Formosa, is of economic importance 

 for the Chinese prepare thin " rice paper " from the pith. Aralia qiiinque- 

 folia is also important, for the Chinese obtain their famous aphrodisiac, 

 ginseng, from its roots. A. nudicaulis is the Virginian Sarsaparilla. 



The Cornaceae are a little family with only 100 species separated into 

 fifteen genera. They are mostly shrubs, growing in temperate regions or on 

 tropical mountains. The flowers are either tetramerous or pentamerous 

 and closely similar to those of the Araliaceae. The fruit is a drupe or 

 occasionally a berry, as in Auciiba. 



The most important genus is Cornus, which contains about sixty species. 

 Two occur wild in Britain, they are C. sangninea (Dogwood) and C. 

 suecica, a small perennial herb of the Scottish Highlands. Several other 

 species are of economic importance; C. Wfl.y (Cornelian Cherry) (Fig. 1750), 

 which is wild in Europe and Asia Minor, produces fruits which make a 

 good jam, while C.JJorida, a North American tree, is valuable for its timber. 



Species of the genus Aucuba are well-known garden shrubs. A. 

 japonica, sometimes called the Japanese Laurel, is a dioecious ever- 

 green shrub with large, often spotted leaves and was a characteristic 

 plant of Victorian shrubberies. The genus Griselinia contains eight species 

 in New Zealand and South America. Several are cultivated in gardens. 



