A somewhat prickly and hairy ornamental Chinese shrub (fig. 411), having leathery twice-pinnate leaves, and panicles of creamy-white flowers, succeeded by black berries. The variegated form with an irregular silvery bordering to the leaflets is particularly handsome. It is generally grafted on the green-leaved form, which is itself raised from seeds, or cuttings of the stems and roots. Other shrubby species are the North American Angelica Tree. spinosa, 8-12 ft., with thrice-pinnate leaves, and A. Maximotviczi (or Acanthopanax ricinifolium), an elegant Japanese shrub with prickly stems and leaves lobed like those of the Castor-oil plant (Ricinus). The Chinese Ricepaper Tree (A. papyrifera), belongs to this group, but is now known under the name of Fatsia. A. Sieboldi is dealt with in Vol. II. p. 127.

Fig. 411. - Aralia chinensis.