Meryta
(said to be derived from meryo, to roll up; in reference to the male flowers forming something like a rolled-up ball). SYN. Botryodendron. ORD. Araliaceae. A genus comprising six species of stove or greenhouse, glabrous trees, natives of Norfolk Island, New Zealand, and the South Pacific Island. Flowers dioecious, in panicled heads, at the sides of the branches, or in sessile fascicles; males small; females large. Leaves simple, large, entire or sinuated. For culture, see Aralia.
M. latifolia (broad-leaved). fl. greenish-yellow, male, female, and hermaphrodite, densely crowded into oblong compound heads, which are 2in. to 3in. long, formed of innumerable clusters of about six sessile flowers, on a thick green rachis. March. l. 2ft. to 3ft. long, crowded, narrow-obovate or fiddle-shaped; petiole short, stout. h. 50ft. to 60ft. Norfolk Island. Greenhouse. (B. M. 5932.) M. sonchifolia (Sonchus-leaved). l. lyrate-pinnatisect; terminal lobe deltoid or somewhat acuminate; side lobes rhomboid-ovate, acute; margins irregularly toothed, dark green, marked with numerous whitish spots. Stem (and petioles) olive-green. New Caledonia, 1879. Stove. (I. H. 1879, 340.)