Umbellales.] 



ARALIACE^. 



781 



Although its virtues have been pronounced imaginary, it is hardly crediV)lo that 

 the root should have gained such great celebrity if it were inert. It was formerly sup- 

 posed to belong to Panax quinquefolium, but tliat seems to have been a mistake' ; the 

 species so named is said, however, to be sold by the Americans to the Chinese, as a sub- 

 stitute for their Ginseng ; it has an agi'eeable bitter-sweet root, and is used sometimes 

 as Liquorice. Panax finiticosus and cochleatus are fragrant aromatics, employed in the 

 Moluccas, and P. Anisum has berries with all the odoiu' of the herb whose name it 

 bears. The Arahas seem to be similar in their action ; an aromatic gum-resin comes 

 from A. racemosa, spinosa and hispida ; A. nudicaulis is diaphoretic, and its shoots are 

 employed in North America as a substitute for Sarsaparilla ; Dimorphanthus (Aralia) 

 eduUs is employed in Chma as a sudorific ; its young shoots are a delicate vegetal)lc ; 

 and its root, which is bitter, aromatic, and pleasant to the taste, is employcif Ijy th(' 

 Japanese, in winter, as we use Scorzonera. Nor does the common Ivy want' the an.ma 

 of the Order, although unpleasant in smell ; it is mentioned as a sudorific ; and its 

 berries are emetic. Hedera umbellifera, an Amboj-na plant, is said to furnish wood 

 scented Uke Lavender and Rosemary, and H. terebintinacea yields, in Ceylon, a resi- 

 nous substance smelling of tui'pentinc. Gimnera scabra or Panke is astringent ; its 

 roots are used by tanners, while its fleshy leaf-stalks are eaten ; Mr. Darwin found 

 it growing on the sandstone-cliffs of Chiloe, and describes it as somewhat resembling 

 Rhubarb on a gigantic scale. He measured a leaf which was nearly 8 feet in diavuhr, 

 and remarked that each plant produced 4 or 5 of these enormous'lcaves, " presenting 

 together a noble appearance." The fruit of Gunnera macrocephala is reputed in Java 

 to be stimulant. 



Panax, Linn. 



Aureliana, Catesb. 



Araliastrum, Vaill. 



Plectronia, Lour. 

 Cussonia, Thunb. 

 Maralia, Thouars. 

 Gilibertia, Ruiz et Pav. 



Wangenheimia, Dietr. 



Ginnania, Dietr. 



GENERA 



Gastonia, Commers. 

 Trevesia, Vis. 

 Polyscias, Forst. 

 Brassaia, Endl. 

 Torricellia, DC. 

 Aralia, Linn. 



Scheffera, Forst. 

 Dimorphanthus, Miq. 

 Sciodaphyllum, P. Br 



Actinophyllum,'R.et P. 

 Hedera, Linn. 



Gynapteina, Blum. 

 Paratropia, DC, 



Heptnpleurum, Gartn. 

 Arthrophyllum, Blum. 

 Botryodendrum, Endl. 

 ? Miquelia, Meisn. 



Touroulia, Auhl. 



liohinsonia, Schreb. 

 Adoxa, L. 



Milligania, Hook. fit. 

 Gunnera, L. 



Misandra, Comm. 



Disomcnc, Banks. 



Perpensum, Bunn. 



Panhe, Feuill. 



Numbers. Gen. 21. Sp. 160. 



VitacecB. 

 Position. — Apiaceae. — Araliace^. — HamameUdaccte. 

 Cap'ifoliacece. 



Fig. DXVII 



Fig. DXVII.— Adoxa Mcschatellina. 1. a flower magnified. 



