Fatsia flower

Back in July I noticed our fatsia, a gift from a long-time neighbour, now departed to Ashtead down the road, far enough down the road to be in the borough called Mole Valley.

Noticed again this morning for being in flower, despite being a bit sickly. Struck by the resemblance of the flowers to ivy flowers, both in respect of the flowers themselves, which are unusual, and in respect of the late autumn flowering, when there will not be that many insects about. Unlike early October in Devon when banks of ivy were alive with bees and wasps.

Checking with Wikipedia I find that fatsia is properly Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids, Apiales, Araliaceae, Aralioideae, Genus Fatsia. While ivy is properly Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids, Apiales, Araliaceae, Aralioideae, Genus Hedera. So next door neighbours in the grand tree of life. Near enough to be in the same tribe of the Schefflerieae among the Aralioideae. Probably named for an 18th century German botanist, one Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler, who lived in what is now Poland.

I am reminded that careful examination of flowers is often the key to plant identification, with flower form being a very stable characteristic of a plant. Not going to change very quickly, even in evolutionary time. But it helps to have a good magnifying glass.

PS: to get borough boundaries you need to go to Ordnance Survey, these not being a feature of Bing maps or gmaps. And even at Ordnance Survey, what appears to the the borough boundary is described as a national boundary in the legend. Perhaps even Ordnance Survey find it hard to keep up with the shifting nomenclature for the organs of local government. So mistreated for so long by the organs of central government. Not least by the late lamented Mr. Cummings - assuming, that is, that he could have been described as an organ of government.

Reference 1: psmv4: A watering event.

Reference 2: psmv4: Critical national infrastructure. October 2020 ivy in Devon.

Reference 3: psmv4: Sickly smell. September 2019 ivy in Surrey.