RHAMNACEAE. 



217 



BERCHEMIA. Supple Jack. 

 (Family Rhamnaceae). 



Woody twiners: deciduous. 

 Stems terete, slender, twiggy: 

 pith moderate, continuous and 

 homogeneous, round, pale. Buds 

 small, solitary, sessile, elongated- 

 triangular, closely appressed, with 

 a couple of exposed scales. Leaf- 

 scars alternate, small, round or 

 half-round, much-raised, with 

 minute persistent stipules at the 

 top: bundle-trace 1, elliptical. 



Winter-character figures of the 

 similar hardier Asiatic Berche- 

 mia racemosa are given by Schnei- 

 der, f. 69; and Shirasawa, 260, pi. 

 7. 



When they can be grown suc- 

 cessfully, the berchemias are ef- 

 fective climbers, growing rapidly 

 and producing an abundance of 

 slender branches covered in the 



open season with rather small and neat leaves. In the South 



B. scandens, or B. volubilis as it is called sometimes, often 



reaches far up into the tops of tall trees. 



Glabrous: bud-scales with exfoliating cuticle. B. scandens. 



