Interesting Facts
Description
Family Araliaceae
Trees
or shrubs
, sometimes woody vines
with aerial roots
, rarely perennial
herbs, hermaphroditic
, andromonoecious or dioecious, often with stellate
indumentum or more rarely simple
trichomes
or bristles
, with or without prickles, secretory
canals present in most parts. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite (never in Chinese taxa), simple and often palmately lobed
, palmately compound
, or 1-3-pinnately compound
, usually crowded toward apices of branches, base
of petiole
often broad and sheathing
stem, stipules absent or forming a ligule or membranous border
of petiole. Inflorescence terminal
or pseudo-lateral (by delayed development), umbellate
, compound-umbellate, racemose, racemose-umbellate, or racemose-paniculate, ultimate
units
usually umbels or heads
, occasionally racemes
or spikes, flowers rarely solitary; bracts usually present, often caducous
, rarely foliaceous
. Flowers bisexual
or unisexual
, actinomorphic
. Pedicels often jointed
below ovary and forming an articulation
. Calyx absent or forming a low rim
, sometimes undulate
or with short teeth. Corolla of (3-) 5(-20) petals, free
or rarely united
, mostly valvate
, sometimes imbricate. Stamens usually as many as and alternate with petals, sometimes numerous
, distinct
, inserted
at edge
of disk; anthers
versatile, introrse
, 2-celled (or 4-celled in some non-Chinese taxa), longitudinally dehiscent
. Disk epigynous, often fleshy
, slightly depressed
to rounded
or conic, sometimes confluent
with styles. Ovary inferior (rarely secondarily superior in some non-Chinese taxa), (1 or) 2-10(to many) -carpellate; carpels united, with as many locules; ovules pendulous, 2 per locule, 1 abortive
; styles as many as carpels, free or partially united, erect
or recurved, or fully united to form a column; stigmas terminal or decurrent on inner face
of styles, or sessile on disk, circular to elliptic
and radiating. Fruit a drupe or berry, terete
or sometimes laterally compressed
, occasionally vertically compressed
, exocarp
fleshy; pyrenes cartilaginous
or membranous, often laterally compressed. Seeds 1 per pyrene, embryo small, endosperm uniform
or ruminate
.
About 50 genera and 1350 species: widespread in tropical
and subtropical
regions of both hemispheres, much less diverse
in temperate
areas; 23 genera (two endemic, one introduced
) and 180 species (82 endemic, seven introduced) in China.
Chinese genera of economic importance include Aralia, Eleutherococcus, Heteropanax, Panax, and Tetrapanax (medicinal), Hedera (ornamental
), Fatsia and Schefflera (medicinal and ornamental), and Kalopanax (timber) .
Recent phylogenetic
studies (Plunkett and Lowry, Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 19: 259-276. 2001; Wen et al.
, Syst. Bot. 26: 144-167. 2001; Chandler and Plunkett, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 144: 123-147. 2004; Mitchell and Wen, Taxon
53: 29-41. 2004; Plunkett et al., S. Afr. J. Bot. 70: 371-381. 2004) have shown that Hydrocotyle Linnaeus belongs to Araliaceae, despite being traditionally included
in Apiaceae (see Fl.
China 14: 14-18. 2005) .
Diplopanax Handel-Mazzetti was at one time placed in Araliaceae but is now regarded as a member
of Mastixiaceae (see Fl. China 14: 231-232. 2005) .[1]
Physical Description
Habit: Deciduous.
Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April, May. • Flower Color: inconspicuous, near white, none, white
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 8-10' tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 8-10' apart.
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun .
Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Asteridae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Aralianae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Apiales
()
- Nakai, 1930
- Family:
Araliaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Ginseng Family
- Subfamily:
Aralioideae
()
- Tribe:
Schefflereae
()
- Genus:
Acanthopanax
()
- Specific epithet:
sieboldianus
- Botanical name: - Acanthopanax sieboldianus
- Specific epithet:
sieboldianus
- Genus:
Acanthopanax
(
- Tribe:
Schefflereae
(
- Subfamily:
Aralioideae
(
- Family:
Araliaceae
(
- Order:
Apiales
(
- Superorder:
Aralianae
(
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Acanthopanax
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 2 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. setchuenensis (Acanthopanax) · A. sieboldianus Makino 'Variegatus' (Five-Fingered Aralia)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- An arboreal guide of the wilderness. 1979. url .
- Bartonia;proceedings of the Philadelphia botanical club. .. 42 - 46 1973 - 19 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Botanical Club, Academy of Natural Sciences. url p. 21.
- Erigenia: journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society. Carbondale, Ill.: The Society, 1982- url p. 54, p. 67.
- Flora of Japan: in English: combined, much revised and extended translation / by the author of his Flora of Japan (1953) and Flora of Japan, Pteridophyta (1957); edited by Frederick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1965. url p. 664, p. 665.
- Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1987 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 50, p. 846.
- Landscaping your home / Urbana: University of Illinois Press, c1975. url p. 227.
- Manual of vascular plants of the lower Yangtze Valley, China. Corvallis, Oregon State College[1958] url p. 280.
- Plants for California landscapes: a catalog of drought tolerant plants. [Sacramento, Calif.]: State of California, Resources Agency, Dept. of Water Resources, [1979] url p. 42.
- The complete illustrated book of garden magic. Chicago, J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co.[1969] url p. 328.
- Trees and shrubs of Nantucket; Descriptions, identification keys, list of trees and shrubs [by] Mabel Agnes Rice. [Ann Arbor, Michigan., Lithoprinted by Edwards brothers, inc.]1946. url p. 75.
- Hoo Gin & Tseng Chang-jiang. 1978. Araliaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 54: i-ix, 1-210.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 16, 2012.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2774449
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4022443
Footnotes
- Qibai Xiang & Porter P. Lowry "Araliaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 435. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
