Tetmmeles] LVI. DATISCACEiE 347 



306, under Comhretacem). Petals numerous, spreading, stamens oo, about lialf tlie 

 length of jjetals. Fruit flesjiy, pear-shaped, umbilicate at the top, with spine-bearing 

 tubercles near the apex. The joints strike root-, but it is chiefly spread by birds, which 

 eat the fruit and drop the seed. 



Oeder LVIII. ARALIACE^. Gen. PI. i. 931. 



Trees or shi-ubs, rarely herbs, erect or climbing, sometimes epiphytic, L 

 alternate, simple or compound. El. regular, usually pentamerous, umbellate, 

 rarely racemose or capitate. Calyx adnate to ovary, limb short, usually entire, 

 rarely toothed or lobed, petals mostly tiiangular, caducous. Stamens as many 

 as petals, rarely numerous, filaments infiexed in bud, anthers didymous, versa- 

 tile, disk epigynous. Ovary 2- or more celled, 1 ovule in each cell. E'r. a 

 drupe or berry, seeds pendulous, embryo minute in dense fleshy albumen. 



All AraliacecB have canals in the bark and pith, filled with resin or gum. In many 

 species vascular bundles are found in the pith. The wood is generally light and soft, 

 and many bpacies have a large pith, among otherb, Fatsia papyrifera^ Benth., the rice- 

 paper plant of Japan and Formosa. 



A. Cells of ovary 5, rarely 4 or 6. 



L. digitate, petals 5 or 6, valvate . . . .1. Hei'tapleurum. 



2. Pentapanax, 



POLYSCIAS (p. 349). 



3. Hedbka. 



4. I)eni>kopanax. 



L. pinnate, petals imbricate 

 L. pinnate, petals valvate, thick 

 L. simple, umbels numerous, panicled 

 L. simple, umbels solitary or few 



B. Cells of ovary 2-5. 



Albumen I'uminated, petals valvate, edge of leaves 



bristly-ciliate 5. G-amblea. 



Albumen uniform, petals slightly imbricate . . 6. Aralia 



C. Cells of ovary 2, petals valvate. 



Pedicels continuous, styles distinct. 



L. digitate Acanthopanax(p.351). 



L. tripinnate . . 7. Heteropanax. 



Pedicels continuous, styles united . . . .8. Beassaiopsis. 

 Pedicels articulate, styles united, 1. digitate . . 9. Macbopanax. 



D. Ovary one-celled, 1. simple, pinnate and bi- or tri- 



pinnate Arthuophyllum 



E. Cells of ovary 6-12, ^^' ^^^^' 



L. digitate, ii. in heads Bras sat a (p. 358). 



L. palmate, fl. umbellate . . . . . .10. Teevesia. 



F. Cells of ovary very numerous, stamens 00 . . . TtiPiDANTiiub (p. 354). 

 Helw'mgia belongs more properly to Cornacem^ in which order it has been entered. 



1. HEPTAPLEURUM, Gaertn; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 727. 



(Included in ScJiefflera by Harms in Engler u. Prantl iii. 8. 35.) 



Unarmed trees or large shrubs, often epiphytic. Leaves digitate, leaflets of 

 old trees entire or remotely toothed, of coppice shoots and young trees often 

 lobed. Umbels generally in panicled racemes, bracts woolly, pedicels not 

 articulate. Fl. often polygamous, male and bisexual, petals valvate, generally 

 5 or 6, often cohering in a cap which is raised by the stamens. Ovary with 

 as many cells as there are petals. Fr. often fleshy, generally ridged when 

 dry, enclosing 3-6 pergamentaceous or membranous pyrenes in which the seeds 

 lie loose. Albumen often more or less ruminate. Species 55, tropics of the old 

 world . 



A. Fr. crowned by the long connate styles, seeds convex, albumen often 

 ruminate. 



