Sciadophyllum
(from skias, skiados, a shade or canopy, and phyllon, a leaf; the leaves are large, and, consequently, afford much shade). Sometimes erroneously spelt Sciodaphyllum. SYN. Actinophyllum. ORD. Araliaceae. A genus comprising about twenty-two species of stove or greenhouse trees or shrubs, inhabiting tropical America. Flowers hermaphrodite or polygamous; petals five, rarely four; heads or small umbels disposed in simple racemes, paniculate, or umbellate. Leaves digitately compound; leaflets entire; stipules often elongated. A selection from the introduced species is given below. They are well worth cultivating on account of their fine foliage. A mixture of loam, peat, and sand, is the most suitable soil. Propagation may be readily effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a hand glass, in moderate heat. S. acuminatum (acuminate-leafleted). fl. yellow, in heads little larger than a pea. May. l., leaflets seven to eleven, petiolulate, oblong, obliquely acuminate, coriaceous, glabrous, reticulately veined. Stems climbing. h. 10ft. Peru. Greenhouse.
S. Brownii (Brown's). Galapee-tree. fl. white, nearly capitate, in very long, compound racemes. June. l., leaflets seven to eleven, nearly umbellate, petioluate, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, unequal, the central ones smallest. Stem arboreous. h. 10ft. to 15ft. Jamaica, 1793. Stove. S. conicum (conical-flowered). fl. whitish-red, in heads about the size of a pea; racemes two or three, rather velvety. May. l., leaflets seven to thirteen, petiolulate, oblong, abruptly acuminate, coriaceous, glabrous, reticulately veined. Stem shrubby h. 10ft. Peru. Stove.