132 ACANTHOPANAX 



A. SENTICOSUM, Harms. 



(Eleutherococcus senticosus, Maximowicz.") 



A deciduous shrub, usually 4 to 6 ft. high, but said to occasionally become 

 twice or thrice that height. Stems erect, scarcely branched, covered with stiff 

 bristles. Leaves composed of three to five leaflets borne on a slender, some- 

 times bristly stalk 3 to 5 ins. long. Leaflets oval, ovate, or slightly obovate, 

 the side ones often oblique at the base ; 2| to 5 ins. long, usually more than 

 half as wide ; finely toothed ; upper surface dark glossy green, and furnished 

 with stiff short hairs on the ribs and veins ; paler underneath ; stalk |- in. or less . 

 long. Flowers numerous, in one or more globular umbels terminating the 

 shoot ; each umbel i^ ins. diameter, on a smooth slender stalk 2 to 3 ins. 

 long ; flowers purplish yellow, very small, each on a stalk to f in. long ; pro- 

 duced in July. 



Native of China ; introduced to Kew in 1893. It * s an interesting shrub with 

 handsome foliage, remarkable for its bristly (scarcely prickly) stems, which dis- 

 tinguish it from all other hardy Araliads. 



A. SESSILIFLORUM, Seeman. 



(Panax sessiliflorum, Ruprecht^) 



A deciduous shrub of vigorous habit, forming a large spreading bush 5 to 10 

 ft. or more high, and twice as much wide ; stems stout, very pithy, grey, 

 scarcely or not armed. Leaves composed of three, sometimes five, leaflets on a 

 common stalk \\ to 2| ins. long ; leaflets narrowly oval or obovate, 2 to 5 

 ins. long, about half as wide, the central one the largest ; tapering at both 

 ends, very short-stalked, irregularly toothed, almost quite smooth on both 

 surfaces but somewhat hard to the touch. Flowers produced in July and 

 August, at the end of the shoot, packed closely in a globose, almost stalkless 

 cluster I in. across, brown-purple with yellowish protruding stamens. Fruits in 

 a spherical head, i to i| ins. across, inky black. 



Native of Manchuria, China, and Japan ; introduced to St Petersburg about 

 1860. It is one of the hardiest shrubs introduced from N. Asia, and one, 

 fortunately, that is not enticed into premature growth by unseasonable winter 

 warmth. Whilst its flowers have no beauty, the black fruits are rather striking, 

 and the shrub itself is handsome. The finest specimen I have seen is in the 

 Botanic Garden at Herrenhausen, Hanover ; in 1908 this was 12 ft. high and 

 21 ft. in diameter a broad-based pyramid of foliage. Propagated by seeds. 

 Closely allied to A. sessiliflorum is 



A. DIVARICATUM, Seeman, easily distinguished, however, by its more downy 

 character. The young shoots are downy ; the short stalk of the flower-head 

 has a mossy appearance, ancl the leaves are quite downy beneath. 



A. SETCHUENENSE, Harms. 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 10 ft. high, free from down in every 

 part ; stems with few or no prickles. Leaves composed of three leaflets borne 

 on a stalk i^ to 4 ins. long. Leaflets dark green above, paler or slightly 

 glaucous beneath ; oblong to ovate, 2 to 5^ ins. long, I to 2 ins. wide, the 

 margins finely toothed or almost entire ; stalks to ^ in. long. Flowers in a 

 panicle of about six spherical umbels borne at the end of the season's shoots 

 during July ; each umbel is i to i J ins. across, the central terminal one the 

 largest ; they are borne on stalks of varying length (f to 3 ins.), the whole 

 panicle from 5 to 7 ins. high. Fruits black. 



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