Sarcococca
(from sarx, sarkos, flesh, and kokkos, a berry; alluding to the fleshy fruits). SYN. Lepidopelma. ORD. Euphorbiaceae. A small genus (three species) of stove or greenhouse, glabrous shrubs, natives of the East Indies and the Malayan Archipelago. Flowers monoecious, apetalous; racemes small, dense, clustered about the axils. Fruit sub-drupaceous, ovoid or globose, indehiscent. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, entire, coriaceous, penniveined or triplinerved. The species introduced thrive in sandy loam. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass, with a little heat.
S. Hookeriana (Hooker's). fl. yellowish; inflorescence short, equalling the petioles, loose-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate. June. l. 2in. to 3in. long, narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, acute at base, somewhat coriaceous, slightly shining above or opaque, penninerved; petioles about 1/4in. long. h. 1ft. to 4ft. Sikkim Himalayas. Half-hardy (hardy in the South of England). S. saligna (Willow-like). fl. pale yellow; inflorescence scarcely exceeding the rather short petioles; bracts of the male peduncles ovate, acute; bracteoles oblong-ovate, acuminate. June. l. linear-lanceolate, long-narrowed to the base, with a very long, cuspidate acumen at apex. h. 4ft. Nopaul, 1820. Greenhouse. (B. R. 1012, under name of S. pruniformis.) S. s. coriacea (leathery). fl., inflorescence loose, nearly equalling the petioles; female peduncles twin or ternate, slender. (H. E. F. 148, under name of Pachysandra coriacea.) S. s. latifolia (broad-leaved). l. broad or narrow ovate-lanceolate, acute at base.