300 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Araliaceae. 



THE FAMILY OF AEALIADS, OB IVYWORTS. 



Distribution. This family is closely allied to the Umbelliferae, but is 

 chiefly tropical in its distribution, though some species are found in Canada, 

 N.W. America and Japan. The New Zealand species are all endemic. The 

 British Hedera helix, the Common Ivy, is well-known, and much cultivated. 

 The berries are emetic and purgative. Tetrapanax papyri/era furnishes the 

 rice-paper of the Chinese. The stems of this plant, which is found only in 

 the island of Formosa, are filled with a pure white pith, from which the 

 paper is made. This pith is also used in the making of artificial flowers. 

 Some of the species of Aralia have slight medicinal properties. 



Key to Hie Genera. 



1. Herbs. Stilbocarpa, p. 300. 

 Shrubs or trees. 2 



2. Leaves 9 in.-20 in. long, entire, glossy. Meryta, p. 312. 

 Leaves smaller, simple or digitate. 3 



3. Flowers in simple or compound umbels. 4 

 Flowers in large panicles. Schefflera, p. 312. 



4. Styles distinct, tips recurved, ovary 2-4-celled. Nothopanax, p. 304. 



5. Styles united into a cone. Ovary 5-celled. Pseudopanax, p. 306. 



Genus Stilbocarpa. 



A genus of two species, endemic in New Zealand. Leaves radical, large. 

 Flowers crowded, conspicuous. Petals, 5 ; stamens, 5 ; styles, 3 or 4. Fruit, 

 round ; axis hollow. Cells, 1-seeded. (Name in allusion to the shining fruit). 



Stilbocarpa polaris (The Polar Stilbocarpa). 



A large herbaceous plant. Leaves, 6 in. -12 in. broad ; round or kidney- 

 shaped, thick, rough with hairs, lobed, coarsely toothed. Leaf-stalk 12 in.-18in. 

 long, with a lobed sheath. Flowers in terminal or axillary umbels, 4 in. -9 in. 

 across. Corolla in. across, yellow, with a purple eye. Fruit the size of a 

 peppercorn, shining. Auckland, Antipodes, Macquarie, and Campbell Islands. 

 Fl. Dec. -Jan. Maori name Punui. 



Stilbocarpa Lyallii (Lyall's Stilbocarpa). 



A robust herb, 1 ft. -3 ft. in height. Stems horizontal, giving out long 

 arched trailing branches, which tend to root at the tip. Leaves radical, shining 

 above, hairy beneath, round or kidney-shaped, lobed, toothed. Flowers in 

 umbels, purplish-red, 3 in. -12 in. across. Petals, 4 ; stamens, 5. Fruit round, 

 black, shining ; cells 1-seeded. Coasts of Foveaux Straits, Stewart Island, 

 The Snares. Fl. Dec.-Feb. 



We have followed Engler and Prantl (Pflanzenfamilien III., 8, 57) in 

 placing Kirk's Aralia Lyallii under the genus Stilbocarpa, thus restoring it. to- 

 the position originally given it by Mr. J. B. Armstrong. 



