LORANTHACEjE. XIV. SCHCEPPIA. XV. AUCUBA. CHLORANTHE.E. 



433 





exquisitely fragrant, even after being dried, disposed in racemes, 

 which are about half the length of the leaves. Ovarium sup- 

 ported by a calyciform bractea like the rest of the species, which 

 is divided into 2 or 3 unequal acute segments. Corolla rather 

 fleshy ; tube nearly an inch long. Drupe pale yellow, almost 

 white, about the size of an olive, 1 -seeded from abortion. The 

 perfume of the flowers is of a most delightful kind, and may be 

 perceived on steeping them in warm water even long after they 

 have been dried. 



Fragrant Schoepfia. Tree 10 to 15 feet. 



4 S. ACUMINA'TA (Wall. cat. no. 486.) leaves ovate, acumi- 

 nated, obtuse at the base ; racemes axillary, many flowered ; 

 tube of corolla terete : lobes bluntish. T? . G. Native of Ni- 

 paul, on the Pundua mountains. Flowers yellow ? 



Acuminated-\ea.\e& Schoepfia. Tree 10 to 12 feet. 



Cult. A mixture of loam, peat, and sand will suit these trees ; 

 and young cuttings of them will be easily rooted if planted in 

 sand, and placed under a hand-glass. 



XV. AU'CUBA (the Japanese name of the shrub). Thunb. 

 fl. jap. p. 4. Lam. ill. t. 759. D. C. prod. 4. p. 274. Au- 

 kuba, Kcempf. amoen. 5. p. 775. Eubasis, Salisb. prod. p. 68. 



LIN. SYST. Dioecia, Tetrdndria. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 

 closely adhering, with the margin a little elevated and 4-toothed : 

 teeth obtuse, very short. Petals 4, deciduous, alternating with 

 the calycine teeth, inserted in the margin of the elevated flesh, 

 4-angled disk ovate, acuminated, fleshy, with the margin trun- 

 cate on one side, and minutely papillose on both surfaces, val- 

 vate in aestivation, induplicate at the apex. Stamens 4, opposite 

 the petals ? Ovarium cylindrical, adhering closely to the tube 

 of the calyx, 1-celled, containing one ovulum. Style very short, 

 thick, terete : stigma capitate, thick, fleshy, viscid, obsoletely 

 2-lobed. Berry fleshy, 1 -seeded, crowned by the permanent 

 style. The rest unknown. A small evergreen tree, native of 

 Japan ; branches dichotomous or verticillate in the manner of 

 Lordnthus and Vlscum. Leaves opposite, petiolate, broad, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminated, toothed, coriaceous, glabrous, shining, 

 pale green, beautifully spotted with yellow, having the mid-rib 

 rather prominent, the rest of the leaf reticulately veined. Pe- 

 tioles cylindrical. Flowers small, panicled. Panicles many, 

 spike-formed, pedunculate ; peduncles rather villous. Bracteas 

 lanceolate, membranous, pale, caducous. Calyx beset with ad- 

 pressed villi. Petals dark blood coloured. The buds are large, 

 angular, imbricated from conduplicate stipulas ; the leaves are 

 large, toothed, and veiny, and the petioles are articulated with 

 the branches and dilated at the base ; hence there is some ana- 

 logy in the genus to Frdxinus. This genus was included by 

 Jussieu in the order Rhamni ; but from its having no affinity 

 whatever to either of the families into which that order has been 

 since divided, its place in the natural system has remained unde- 

 termined ; and perhaps also from its want of novelty, the plant 

 has been despised by botanists, and its characters and affinities 

 consequently overlooked. Like the Salix Babylonica, or weep- 

 ing-willow, too, we possess only one sex of the tree in Europe, 

 and that the female, which circumstance has likewise prevented 

 its being accurately examined. The structure of the female 

 flower agrees so exactly with that of Vucum, that, notwith- 

 standing the different mode of growth of the two genera, and 

 the absence of more accurate details respecting the male blos- 

 soms, and the ripe fruit, its arrangement among the Loran- 

 thacece appears fully justified. It will ultimately be found the 

 connecting link between the Araliacece and the present family. 



1 A. JAPONIC A (Thunb. fl. jap. p. 64.) Tj . H. Native of 

 Japan. Banks, icon. Kcempf. t. 6. Thunb. icon. fl. jap. t. 12 

 and 13. Sims, bot. mag. 1197. Eubasis dichotomus, Salisb. 

 prod. p. 68. The Aucuba is a well known laurel-like evergreen 



VOL. III. 



shrub, having the leaves mottled with yellow ; but in Japan the 

 leaves are said to be sometimes green by Thunberg. According 

 to Kcempfer, the fruit is a red oblong drupe, like a laurel-berry, 

 with a white sweetish pulp, and a kernel with a bitter taste. 

 The shrub is called in the gardens aticuba or spotted-leaved 

 laurel. 



Japan Aucuba. Fl. May, July. Clt. 1783. Shrub 6 to 

 10 feet. 



Cult. This is a showy evergreen shrub, well adapted for 

 shrubberies and small gardens. It is easily increased by cut- 

 tings from the young wood planted in autumn under a hand- 

 glass or by layers. The shrub will grow in any soil. 



ORDER CXXVIII. CHLORA'NTHE.E (plants agreeing with 

 Chloranthus in particular characters). R. Br. in bot. mag. 2190. 

 (1821) and in Parry, voy. 1824. Lindl. coll. bot. 17. (1821). 

 Blum. fl. jav. (1829) vol. 1. 



Flowers disposed in spikes, hermaphrodite or unisexual ; with 

 a supporting tridentate calyx. Stamens lateral ; if more than 

 one connate definite ; anthers 2-4-celled, bursting lengthwise, 

 each adnate to a fleshy connective, which coheres laterally in 

 various degrees ; filaments slightly adhering to the ovarium, 

 which is 1-celled ; stigma simple, sessile ; ovulum pendu- 

 lous. Fruit drupaceous, indehiscent. Seed pendulous. Em- 

 bryo minute, placed at the apex of a fleshy albumen ; having 

 the radicle inferior, and consequently remote from the hilum ; 

 cotyledons divaricate. Herbaceous plants or under shrubs, with 

 an aromatic taste. Stems jointed, tumid under the articulations. 

 Leaves opposite, simple, with sheathing petioles, and minute 

 intervening stipulas. Flowers disposed in terminal loose slen- 

 der spikes. 



This order is nearly allied to Loranthacece, from which it 

 differs in the tridentate calyx, in the want of petals, in the 

 fewer stamens, in the structure of the anthers, and in the inferior 

 radicle, &c. It is said to be nearly allied to Sarurece and Pi- 

 peracece, from both of which it differs in the want of a sack to 

 the embryo, and in the pendulous ovulum, and opposite leaves 

 with intermediate stipulas. The anthers consist of a fleshy 

 mass, upon the face of which the cell lies that bears the pollen ; 

 whether their anthers are 1 or 2-celled is a matter of doubt, one 

 botanist considering those that have 2 cells to be double anthers, 

 another understanding those with 1 cell to be half anthers. This 

 order comes nearest in affinity to Rubidceee, tribe Opercularineae. 



The whole plant of Chloranthus qfficinalis has an aromatic 

 fragrant smell, which is gradually dissipated in drying ; but its 

 roots retain a fragrant camphorated smell, and an aromatic 

 somewhat bitter flavour. They are found to possess very nearly 

 the properties of Aristolbchia serpentaria, and in a high degree. 

 There seems to be no doubt but that it is a stimulant of the 

 highest order. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 CHLORA'NTHUS. Flowers hermaphrodite. Anther seated 

 on the side of the ovarium, undivided and 2-celled, or trilobed 

 and 4-celled. Ovarium 1-ovulate. Drupel-seeded. 



2 ASCARI'NA. Spikes dioecious. Filament short ; anther 

 oblong, 4-furrowed, and probably 4-celled. Stigma 3-lobed. 

 Drupe 1 -seeded. 



3 K 



