162 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



various sections of which remain, moreover, but little different one 

 from another.^ 



Didijmopanax is from tropical America and closely resembles 

 SciadophjUum, of which it has generally the digitate leaves and 

 floral pedicels without articulation. The gynsecium is dimerous, and 

 the drupaceous fruit is much compressed perpendicular to the parti- 

 tion, widely didymous or nearly so. The inflorescences are ramified 

 clusters of umbels and the flowers are sometimes polygamous. 

 Panax fragans, from India and China, has become the type of a genus 

 Heteropanaxy whose flowers and fruit have an organization like that 

 of Didijmopanax. Here only the seeds have a deeply ruminate 

 albumen (a character of little value), and the leaves are decompound- 

 pinnate. 



In New Caledonia there is another genus allied to Schefflera, whose 

 leaves are partly compound-pinnate and partly simple, and whose 



flowers, disposed in simple or compound 

 umbels, have thick pedicels. These flowers 

 are unisexual, and the females have but one 

 cell in the ovary surmounted by a conical 

 disk, without apparent style. The drupa- 

 ceous and monospermous fruit sometimes 

 much resembles that of Apiopetalum, We 

 have named this singular genus Eremopanax 

 the analogue of which we shall find in Mas- 

 tixia and Arihropliylluin^ but it has not the 

 ruminate seeds, and the floral pedicels, like 

 those of Schefflera, are always without articu- 

 lation. The putamen (fig. 202) is unsymmetrical or curved, traversed 



Eremopanax otopyrena. 



Fig. 202. Putamen [\). 



* Sciadophi/Uum, whicli perhaps ought not to 

 "be preserved as a genus distinct from Septa- 

 pleuium, has four or five cells in the ovary, and 

 sometimes two or three. We shall consider 

 (provisionally at least) that the following types 

 with 2-3 -celled ovaries should be referred as 

 sections to the genus Schefflera : Meiopanax 

 {Cussonia umbellifera Sond.), a Cape plant with 

 digitate leaves, pedicel not articulate, 5-merous 

 valvate corolla, simple style with two indistinct 

 stigmatiferous lobes ; Bipanax {Heptapleurum 

 dipyrenum H. Mann), a plant from Hawaii hav- 

 ing the same flower with 2-3- more rarely 4- 

 celled ovary, and imparipinnate leaves. Spha- 



rodendron angolense Seem., whose gynaecium is 

 dimerous and whose flowers are united in clus- 

 ters, connects this genus with Cussonia. Its 

 leaves are digitate. 



The genus Osmoxijlon is imperfectly known. 

 It approaches Schefflera by its 4-5-merous 

 flowers, non-articulate pedicels and valvate 

 petals. Its flowers are in compound umbels of 

 capitules and have a truncate entire calyx and 

 a 4-10-celled ovary with very indistinct stigma- 

 tiferous lobes. They are glabrous trees from 

 the Indian Archipelago, Malaya, and Philippine 

 islands, with simple, or palmatifid, or multi- 

 digitate leaves. 



