XXXVI, ARALIACEA, 203 
XXXVI, ARALIACEA. THE ARALIA FAMILY. 
Shrubs, trees, or climbers, rarely herbs, differing from most 
Umbellifere in their simple (solitary or paniculate) umbels, and 
more generally in their fruit more or less succulent, consisting 
often of more than 2 (from 2 to 10) carpels, which do not sepa- 
rate so readily as in Umbelliferc, usually forming a single berry, 
or, more strictly speaking, a berry-like drupe, containing as 
many l-seeded nuts as there are carpels. The styles also are 
sometimes united. 
A considerable Order, widely spread over the warmer regions of the 
globe, jrepresented in Europe by a single species. Some species of 
Aralia are cultivated in gardens. 
I, HEDERA. IVY. 
Petals not cohering at the top, valvate in the bud. Cells of the 
ovary 5ori10. Styles short, usually cohering in a single mass. 
A genus, as now limited, containing only a single Australian species, 
besides the British one. | 
1, H. Helix, Linn. (fig. 457). Common Jvy.—A woody, evergreen 
climber; when wild the lower, slender branches spread along the 
eround, with small leaves, whilst the main stems climb up trees, rocks, 
or buildings to a great height, adhering by means of small rootlike 
excrescences. Leaves thick and shining, ovate, angular, or 3- or 5- 
lobed ; those of the barren stems usually much more divided than the 
upper ones. Flowering branches bushy, projecting a foot or two from 
the climbing stems, each bearing a short raceme or panicle of nearly 
globular umbels. Flowers of a yellowish-green. Borders of the calyx 
entire, scarcely prominent, about half-way up the ovary. Petals 5, 
broad and short. Stamens 5. Styles united into a single very short 
one. Berry smooth and black, with from 2 to 5 seeds, the albumen 
deeply wrinkled. 
In woods, on rocks and old buildings, common in western and southern 
Hurope, northern Africa, the Himalaya, and in Japan, scarcely pene- 
trating into central Europe, except where the winters are very mild. 
Extends over the whole of Britain. Fl. late in autumn. Several 
varieties are in cultivation, differing chiefly in the more or less divided 
leaves, and one with yellow berries, introduced from the Continent, has 
become almost wild in some parts of southern and western England ; 
another, the so-called Irish ivy, H. canariensis, Willd., with very broad 
thick leaves, is a very doubtful native of Ireland. 
XXXVIT. LORANTHACEA. MISTLETOE FAMILY. 
Shrubby or half-succulent evergreens, parasitic on the branches 
of trees, with jointed branches, opposite thickish leaves, and 
no stipules. Calyx combined with the ovary, either entirely so, 
or appearing only in the shape of an entire or toothed border 
