Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
Order XXXIV. AraliaceÆ
Order XXXIV. AraliaceÆ.
Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs. Leaves alternate or very rarely opposite, simple or digitately or pinnately divided, often large; stipules adnate to the base of the petiole or wanting. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or polygamous or diœcious, usually arranged 8–Fl. in simple or compound umbels, less often in racemes or panicles. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary; limb truncate or toothed or almost obsolete. Petals usually 5, seldom 4 or more than 5, valvate or slightly imbricate. Stamens as many as the petals, and inserted with them round the margin of an epigynous disc; filaments usually inflexed. Ovary superior, 2- to many-celled, rarely 1-celled; styles as many as the cells, free or connate; ovules solitary, pendulous, anatropous. Fruit drupaceous, indehiscent; epicarp usually succulent; cells 2 to many, 1-seeded. Seeds pendulous; testa membranous; albumen copious, fleshy; embryo minute, radicle next the hilum.
An order very closely allied to Umbelliferæ, principally differing in the arborescent habit, valvate petals, ovary usually more than 2-celled, and succulent fruit. The species are mainly tropical or subtropical, few of them extending into the temperate zones. Genera 40; species about 350. The properties of the order are unimportant. Of the 6 genera found in New Zealand, Stilbocarpa and Pseudopanax are endemic; Aralia mainly belongs to the north temperate zone, Meryta and Schefflera are chiefly Polynesian, while Panax has a wide range in the Old World.
Fruit globose, cup-shaped or hollowed at the top | 1. Stilbocarpa. |
Fruit globose, not hollowed at the top | 2. Aralia. |
Leaves simple or digitate. Ovary 2-celled, rarely 3–4-celled. Styles distinct, recurved at the apex | 3. Panax. |
Leaves simple, very large. Flowers paniculate | 4. Meryta. |
Leaves digitate. Umbels small, racemed on the branches of a large spreading panicle | 5. Schefflera. |
Leaves simple or digitately divided. Ovary usually 5-celled. Styles very short, connate into a cone or column | 6. Pseudopanax. |
1. Stilbocarpa, A. Gray
A stout much-branched herb; stem fistulose. Leaves large, orbicular or reniform, setose; petiole with broad membranous stipuliform sheaths. Umbels 3 or 4 times compound, forming a large globose head 6–9 in. diam.; involucral bracts foliaceous. Flowers polygamous, jointed on the top of the pedicel. Calyx-tube 3–4-grooved; limb obsolete. Petals 5, obovate, obtuse, imbricate in the bud. Stamens 5; anthers ovate. Disc fleshy, annular, 3–4-lobed. Ovary 3–4-celled; styles as many as the cells, recurved. Fruit globose, depressed and hollow at the summit, obscurely 3–4-grooved, dry and corky, covered with a black and shining epidermis, 3–4-celled. Seeds as many as the cells.
A monotypic genus, confined to the islands immediately to the south of New Zealand. It is chiefly separated from Aralia by the hollow axis of the fruit, which gives the summit a peculiar cup-shaped appearance.
1. | S. polaris, A. Gray, Bot. U.S. Expl. Exped. 714.—Forming large rounded masses 3–5 ft. in diam., more or less bristly in all its parts. Rhizome prostrate, 2–3 ft. long, thick and fleshy, annulate. Stems much branched below, stout, 1–1½ in. diam., grooved, succulent, with a heavy rank smell when bruised. Leaves bright-green, 9–18 in. diam., orbicular-reniform, thick and fleshy, bristly on both surfaces, plaited or rugose, margins many-lobed and sharply toothed, veins flabellate; petiole 12–24 in. long, erect, semi-terete; sheath amplexicaul, produced above into a leafy lobed or laciniate membranous ligule. Umbels large, terminal and axillary, compound. Flowers very numerous, ¼ in. diam., waxy-yellow with a purplish centre, shining. Fruit the size of a small peppercorn, globose with a flattened and hollowed apex, black, brilliantly shining.— Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 100; Kirk, Students' Fl. 215. Aralia polaris, Homb. et Jacq. Voy. au Pole Sud, Bot. t. 2, Phanerog.; Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 19; Ic. Plant. t. 747. Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes, and Macquarie Islands: Not uncommon. December–January. |
2. Aralia, Linn.
Perennial herbs or shrubs, glabrous or setose or prickly. Leaves alternate, rarely simple, usually digitate or pinnate or pinnately decompound. Umbels solitary or in racemes or panicles, rarely compound; pedicels usually jointed under the flowers. Flowers polygamo-monœcious. Calyx-margin truncate or 5-toothed. Petals 5, slightly imbricate. Stamens 5. Ovary 2–5-celled; styles 2–5, free or connate at the base, at length spreading. Fruit 3–5-celled and 3–5-angular, or subglobose and 2–3-celled.
A well-known genus of about 30 species, mainly natives of the Northern Hemisphere, stretching from Malaya and India to Japan and North America.
3. Panax, Linn.
Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves simple or more usually digitately or pinnately divided. Flowers polygamous or diœcious, jointed at the top of the pedicels, umbellate; umbels simple or compound, variously arranged. Calyx-limb entire or 5-toothed. Petals 5, valvate. Stamens 5. Ovary 2- or rarely 3–4-celled; styles free or connate at the base, their tips free, usually recurved. Fruit compressed or nearly globose, 2–4-celled, exocarp succulent or coriaceous; seeds 1 in each cell.
Species between 30 and 40, mainly Australasian, Polynesian, and Malayan, but extending to central Asia and tropical Africa. The New Zealand species are all endemic.
Leaves of young plants narrow-linear, 5–10 in. long; of old plants linear or lanceolate, 2–3 in. | 1. P. lineare. |
Leaflets 2–5 in., lanceolate, serrate. Styles 2 | 2. P. simplex. |
Leaflets 2–8 in., oblong-lanceolate, entire. Styles 3–4 | 3. P. Edgerleyi. |
Leaflets small, ⅓–⅔ in., orbicular or obovate. Styles 2 | 4. P. anomalum. |
*** Leaves of old plants 3–5- or 7-foliolate. | |
Leaves 3–5-foliolate; petioles not sheathing. Umbels small. Fruit compressed | 5. P. Sinclairii. |
Leaves 3–5-foliolate; petioles sheathing; leaflets sessile, veins indistinct. Umbels large, compound | 6. P. Colensoi. |
Leaves 5–7-foliolate; petioles sheathing; leaflets stalked, veins obvious. Umbels very large, compound | 7. P. arboreum. |
4. Meryta, Forst.
Small glabrous trees, usually more or less resinous. Leaves large, alternate, simple, coriaceous. Flowers diœcious, in terminal panicles. Male flowers: Calyx-limb obsolete or minutely 3–5-toothed. Petals 4–5, valvate. Stamens 4–5; filaments rather long; anthers ovate-oblong. Females: Calyx-limb obsolete. Petals 4–5, small. Ovary 4- to many-celled; styles thick, distinct or slightly connate at the base, their tips at length recurved. Fruit broadly oblong or nearly globose; endocarp succulent; cells 3–6, 1-seeded. Seeds compressed.
A small genus of from 10 to 15 species, most abundant in New Caledonia, but extending eastwards to Tahiti and southwards to Norfolk Island and New Zealand. The single species found in New Zealand is endemic.
1. | M. Sinclairii, Seem, in Bonplandia, x. (1862) 295.— A very-handsome round-headed small tree 8–25 ft. high; trunk 6–18 in. diam.; branches stout, brittle. Leaves very large, crowded towards the ends of the branches; petiole stout, 4–15 in. long; blade 10–20 in. long or more, oblong-obovate or oblong, obtuse, slightly cordate at the base, very coriaceous, smooth and shining, strongly-veined; margins entire, slightly undulate, bordered with a stout vein. Panicles stout, erect, terminal, 6–18 in. long; branches jointed on the rhachis. Male flowers sessile in clusters of 4–8, with a broad bract at the base of each cluster. Calyx-limb obsolete. Petals 4, ovate-oblong. Stamens 4; filaments slender, exserted. Female flowers irregularly crowded, with a bract at the base of each. Calyx as in the males. Petals 4–5, ovate-triangular. Abortive stamens present. Styles 4–5, free to the base. Fruit. ⅓–½ in. long, broadly oblong, succulent, black and shining, 4–5-celled. Seeds solitary in each cell, compressed, bony.— Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 104; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 121; Students' Fl. 220. Botryodendrum Sinclairii, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 97. North Island: Three Kings Islands, T.F.C.; Hen and Chickens (Taranga Islands), Hutton and Kirk! T.F.C. Puka. February–May. The specimens on which Sir Joseph Hooker founded the species were obtained from a solitary tree planted by the Maoris at Paparaumu, in Whangaruru Harbour; but it is not known in an indigenous state on any part of the mainland, and must be considered one of the rarest species of the New Zealand flora. The Maoris state that it exists on the Poor Knights Islands, between Whangarei and the Bay of Islands, but I have seen no specimens from thence. |
5. Schefflera, Forst.
Glabrous shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, digitately compound; leaflets serrulate. Flowers polygamous, in small umbels arranged in a racemose manner on the branches of a spreading panicle; pedicels not articulate. Calyx-limb minutely 5-toothed. Petals 5, valvate. Stamens 5. Disc large, with undulate margins. Ovary 5–10-celled; styles the same number as the cells, connate below, free and spreading above. Fruit subglobose, 5–10-celled; exocarp fleshy; seeds 1 in each cell.
In addition to the single New Zealand species, which is endemic, there are one or two in the Fiji Islands, and several in New Caledonia.
6. Pseudopanax, C. Koch.
Glabrous shrubs or small trees. Leaves extremely variable, simple or digitately compound, those of young plants often widely different from those of mature trees; leaflets coriaceous, entire or more or less toothed or serrate. Flowers diœcious, in racemose or paniculate umbels. Calyx-limb entire or toothed. Petals 5, valvate. Stamens 5; anthers ovate or oblong. Ovary 5-celled; styles the same number, very short, connate into a short cone or column. Fruit fleshy, subglobose, ribbed when dry, 5-celled; seeds 1 in each cell.
As characterized above, the genus contains 6 species, all confined to New Zealand. It is mainly distinguished from Panax by the 5-celled ovary and 5 styles, the latter being very short and connate into a minute cone or column. It would form a much more natural group if it were limited to P. crassifolium, P. ferox, and P. chathamicum, together with Panax lineare, which in several respects is closely allied to P. crassifolium, and which occasionally has a 5-celled ovary.
Bronzy or yellow-green. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets sharply toothed, veined | 1. P. discolor. |
Dark-green. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; leaflets entire or sinuate-serrate, veins obscure | 2. P. Lessonii. |
Dark-green. Leaves mostly 1-foliolate, with a few 3-folio-late ones intermixed | 3. P. Gilliesii. |
Leaves of young trees deflexed, with short distant teeth. Fruit small, ⅕ in. diam. | 4. P. crassifolium. |
Leaves of young trees deflexed, with broad lobulate hooked teeth. Fruit large, oblong, ⅓ Jin. long | 5. P. ferox. |
Leaves of young trees never deflexed. Fruit large, globose, ⅓ in. diam. | 6. P. chathamicum. |