THE ARALIA AND IVY FAMILY. 193 



country appears to have been C. bicolor (see ' Bot. Mag.,' t. 

 820). It was introduced by Messrs Lee and Kennedy in 1773 

 from Madeira, being there cultivated as an ornamental plant. 



As is stated above, variegated seedling forms of Caladium 

 have been raised in French and Austrian gardens ; and in this 

 country M. Bause, when chief propagator at Chiswick in 

 1868-69, raised a race of very beautiful but tender, golden- 

 leaved varieties, some having veins of the brightest carmine 

 imaginable. M. Bause also succeeded in raising a hybrid 

 Dieffenbachia, since named D. Bausei, the result of a cross 

 effected between D. picta and D. Weirii. 



One of the most interesting points observed in connection 

 with the fertilisation of Aroids is the generation of heat during 

 the time the stigmas are in a fit state for fecundation or the 

 application of pollen, and it is absolutely necessary that this 

 time be selected for fertilising purposes. Mr Anderson-Henry, 

 in his paper on " Hybridisation," notes the fact that crosses 

 between remotely-allied species of plants may be most success- 

 fully effected during those peculiar conditions of the atmosphere 

 when the air is charged with electricity, ozone, and latent heat. 

 This statement is doubly interesting when we couple it with 

 the fact that in most Aroids heat is actually generated by the 

 spadix when the stigma is in the receptive state ; and it is well 

 known that tree-growth is made most rapidly during the warm, 

 still, humid nights of May, when electricity is abundant in the 

 atmosphere, as shown by weak flashes of lightning in quick 

 succession, unaccompanied by thunder. 



Several hybrid Alocasias have been raised by Mr John 

 Seden in the Chelsea Nursery, among which the following have 

 been distributed : A intermedia is a hybrid obtained between 

 A. longifolia and A. Veitchii. A. Chelsoni is an intermediate 

 between A. macrorhiza and A. metallica ; A. Sedeni between 

 A. Lowii and A. metallica ; while A. Veitchii, var. superba, is a 

 hybrid between A. Lowii and A. Veitchii. 



THE ARALIA AND IVY FAMILY (Araliacea). 



Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants, nearly related to 

 Umbellifers, but generally having fleshy fruits and ever- 

 green glossy leaves. Panax, Adoxa, Aralia, Dimorphanthus, 

 Sciadophyllum, Gunner a, and Hedera (Ivy), are the principal 

 genera. Nearly all the species are natives of tropical or sub- 

 tropical regions, but they are also represented in Europe, 

 North America, and Japan. Several species cultivated in 



