Araliaceae

Pate Schefflera digitata, photographed by Kahuroa.

Belongs within: Apiales.
Contains: Polyscias, Osmoxylon, Hydrocotyle, Xanthosia, Trachymene, Panax.

The Araliaceae are a family of plants found worldwide, with diversity particularly high in the tropics. The majority of Araliaceae are shrubs and trees, though the family also includes herbs and climbers. Recent phylogenetic studies have lead to the inclusion in the Araliaceae of the herbaceous Hydrocotyloideae, previously included in the Apiaceae. Members of this group include Hemiphues, a genus of small montane herbs with creeping stems forming compact patches and more or less fleshy leaves found in New Zealand and Tasmania (Allan 1961).

Other representatives of Araliaceae in the woody climbers in the genus Hedera, the best known of which is the garden ivy Hedera helix. Panax, the ginsengs, is a genus of stout-rooted herbs that have become known for their supposed medicinal uses. The Asian ginseng P. ginseng has, due to overharvesting, become less commercially significant than the American P. quinquefolius. The type genus Aralia, the spikenards, includes species with bipinnate leaves found in Asia and the Americas, varying from herbs to trees. Schefflera includes trees, shrubs and lianas with palmately compound leaves. Pseudopanax, the lancewoods, is a genus of trees found primarily in New Zealand, notable because of the differences in habit between juveniles (with linear, pendent leaves) and adults (with broader, more erect leaves).

See also: Ginseng and ivy.

Characters (from Kårehed 2003): Mostly woody (sometimes herbaceous); leaves usually alternate (sometimes opposite or whorled), simple or compound, penninerved or palmatinerved, serrate or entire, domatia absent; stipules absent or present; petiole with or without sheathing base; stomata para-, aniso- or anomocytic; hypodermis present or absent. Inflorescences mostly simple umbels; flowers usually with articulated pedicels, unisexual or hermaphroditic, pentamerous (sometimes 3-12-merous, stamens and carpels sometimes twice that number or up to ca. 200), petals free (sometimes connate at base); petals single-veined; aestivation imbricate or valvate; disc present; style mostly with 3-4 free stylodia, sometimes connate into style; stylopodium mostly present; ovary inferior, 2-5-locular (occasionally plurilocular); fruit a drupe or berry. Chromosome number x=11-12+. Secretory canals present; nodes trilacunar (rarely unilacunar); perforation plates simple and/or scalariform; vessels mostly solitary or mainly in groups, sometimes with helical thickenings, with simple pits or pits with very narrow borders; axial parenchyma scanty, paratracheal; rays heterogeneous; fibres with simple pits, mostly septate. Pollen colporate; exine usually reticulate.

<==Araliaceae
    |--Hydrocotyloideae [Hydrocotyleae] HH00
    |    |--Hydrocotyle K03
    |    |--Xanthosia HH00
    |    |--Trachymene T00
    |    `--Hemiphues Hooker 1847 A61
    |         `--H. suffocata Hooker 1847 A61 [=Actinotus suffocata A61, Hemiphues bellidioides var. suffocata C06]
    |              |--H. s. var. suffocata A61
    |              `--H. s. var. novae-zelandiae (Petrie) Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
    `--+--Hedera K03
       |    |--H. canariensis RA07
       |    |--H. helix K03
       |    `--H. nepalensis D07
       `--+--Panax K03
          `--+--Schefflera Forster & Forster 1776 K03, A61
             |    |--S. abyssinica DVC08
             |    |--S. actinophylla RA07
             |    |--S. arboricola K03
             |    |--S. digitata Forster & Forster 1776 (see below for synonymy) A61
             |    |--S. goetzenii K03
             |    `--S. waltheri JD05
             `--Aralia [Aralioideae] K03
                  |--A. bipinnata Blanco 1837 P95
                  |    |--A. b. var. bipinnata P95
                  |    `--A. b. var. apoensis P95
                  |--A. cachemirica K03
                  |--A. californica H93
                  |--A. elata LO98
                  |--A. oxleyi Ettingshausen 1886 F71
                  |--A. prisca Ettingshausen 1886 F71
                  `--A. spinosa K03

Araliaceae incertae sedis:
  Pseudopanax Koch 1859 A61
    |--P. chathamicum Kirk 1899 A61
    |--P. crassifolium (Sol. ex Cunn.) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--P. discolor (Kirk) Harms 1894 [=Panax discolor Kirk 1871] A61
    |--P. ferox Kirk 1889 [=Panax ferox Kirk 1878] A61
    |--P. gilliesii Kirk 1899 A61 (see below for synonymy)
    |--P. laetevirens D03
    |--P. lessonii (DC.) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 A61 (see below for synonymy)
    `--P. lineare (Hooker) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 (see below for synonymy) A61
  Tetraplesandra K03
    |--T. gymnocarpa K03
    `--T. kavaiensis K03
  Heptapleurum venulosum V02, P03
  Kalopanax V02
    |--K. pictus T03
    `--K. septemlobus [incl. Acanthopanax ricinifolia] LO98
  Polyscias P95
  Osmoxylon P95
  Gastonia P95
    |--G. serratifolia (Miq.) Philipson 1979 (see below for synonymy) P95
    `--G. spectabilis (Harms) Philipson 1970 (see below for synonymy) P95
  Bonnierella YY22
  Tieghemopanax sambucifolius YY22, C70
  Heteropanax YY22
  Brassaiopsis YY22
  Gumblea YY22
  Porospermum YY22
  Strobilopanax YY22
  Acanthopanax cissifolius O88
  Fatsia YY22
  Gilibertia trifida MH98
  Brassaia actinophylla SK02
  Oplopanax NS06
  Anakasia simplicifolia Philipson 1973 P95
  Harmsiopanax P95
    |--H. harmsii Sch. ex Sch. & Laut. 1905 P95
    `--H. ingens Philipson 1973 P95
         |--H. i. ssp. ingens P95
         `--H. i. ssp. moniliformis Philipson 1973 P95
  Plerandra P95
    |--P. brassii Philipson 1951 P95
    |--P. solomonensis Philipson 1951 P95
    `--P. stahliana Warb. 1894 P95
  Arthrophyllum P95
    |--A. macranthum Philipson 1951 P95
    |--A. pacificum Philipson 1977 P95
    `--A. proliferum Philipson 1977 P95
  Meryta Forster & Forster 1776 A61
    |--M. colorata Bailey 1898 P95
    `--M. sinclairii (Hooker) Seem. 1862 [=Botryodendrum sinclairii Hooker 1853] A61
  Dendropanax J87
    |--D. arboreus J87
    `--D. selleanus J87
  Didymopanax J87
    |--D. morototoni SWK87
    |--D. tremulum J87
    `--D. vinosum MM96
  Oreopanax J87
    |--O. capitatum J87
    |--O. floribundum F11
    `--O. peltatum BTA75
  Raukaua H98
    |--R. anomalus [=Pseudopanax anomalus] H98
    |--R. edgerleyi (Hooker) Seem. 1866 H98, A61 (see below for synonymy)
    |--R. × parvus (Kirk) Heenan 1998 (see below for synonymy) H98
    |--R. × serratus (Kirk) Heenan 1998 (see below for synonymy) H98
    `--R. simplex [=Pseudopanax simplex] H98
         |--R. s. var. simplex H98
         `--R. s. var. sinclairii H98
  Neopanax Allan 1961 A61
    |--*N. arboreum (Murr.) Allan 1961 A61 (see below for synonymy)
    |--N. anomalum (Hook.) Allan 1961 A61 (see below for synonymy)
    |--N. colensoi (Hooker) Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |    |--N. c. var. colensoi A61
    |    `--N. v. var. montanum (Kirk) Allan 1961 [=Panax colensoi var. montanum Kirk 1899] A61
    |--N. kermadecense (Oliver) Allan 1961 [=Nothopanax kermadecensis Oliver 1926] A61
    |--N. laetum (Kirk) Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--‘Nothopanax’ × macintyrei Cheeseman 1925 [Neopanax arboreum × Ne. simplex] A61
    `--N. simplex (Forster) Allan 1961 A61 (see below for synonymy)
         |--N. s. var. simplex A61
         `--N. s. var. sinclairii (Hooker) Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
  Kirkophytum (Harms) Allan 1961 [=Stilbocarpa sect. Kirkophytum Harms 1894] A61
    |--*K. robustum (Kirk) Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
    `--K. lyallii (Armstrong) Allan 1961 [=Stilbocarpa lyallii Armstrong 1881, Aralia lyalli Kirk 1885] A61
  Boerlagiodendron Harms 1894 (see below for synonymy) S62
    |--B. barbatum S62
    `--B. orientale Guillaumin 1938 S62
  Astrotricha B00
    |--A. floccosa M94
    |--A. longifolia B00
    `--A. pauciflora B00
  Araliopsoides brevilova Berry 1916 CBH93
  Pentapanax CBH93
  ‘Tricolporopollenites’ armatus CBH93

Boerlagiodendron Harms 1894 [=Eschweileria Zippel ex Boerlage 1887 non Eschweilera Martius ex DC. 1828; incl. Unjala Reinw. ex Boerlage 1887] S62

Gastonia serratifolia (Miq.) Philipson 1979 [=Arthrophyllum serratifolium Miq. 1861; incl. G. papuana Miq. 1863, Polyscias papuana (Miq.) Seem. 1865, Tetraplasandra paucidens Miq. 1863, T. solomonensis Philipson 1951] P95

Gastonia spectabilis (Harms) Philipson 1970 [=Peekeliopanax spectabilis Harms 1926; incl. G. boridiana Harms 1938] P95

Hemiphues suffocata var. novae-zelandiae (Petrie) Allan 1961 [=H. novae-zelandiae Petrie 1880, Actinotus novae-zelandiae Petrie 1881] A61

*Kirkophytum robustum (Kirk) Allan 1961 [=Aralia lyallii var. robusta Kirk 1891, Stilbocarpa robusta (Kirk) Cockayne 1909; incl. S. bollonsii Cockayne ex Watson 1909 (n. n.)] A61

Neopanax anomalum (Hook.) Allan 1961 A61 [=Panax anomalum Hook. 1843 A61, Nothopanax anomalum (Hook.) Seem. 1866 A61; incl. Panax microphylla Colenso 1884 A61, Nothopanax microphyllum C06, Pa. anomalum var. microphyllum C06]

*Neopanax arboreum (Murr.) Allan 1961 A61 [=Panax arboreum Murr. 1774 A61, Nothopanax arboreum (Forster) Seem. 1866 A61, Pseudopanax arboreum B88]

Neopanax colensoi (Hooker) Allan 1961 [=Panax colensoi Hooker 1853, Nothopanax colensoi (Hooker) Seem. 1866] A61

Neopanax laetum (Kirk) Allan 1961 [=Panax arboreum var. laetum Kirk 1899, Nothopanax laetum (Kirk) Cheesem. 1923] A61

Neopanax simplex (Forster) Allan 1961 A61 [=Panax simplex Forster 1786 A61, Nothopanax simplex (Forster) Seem. 1866 A61; incl. No. integrifolium C06, Panax integrifolius Col. 1888 C06, No. simplex var. quercifolium Kirk 1899 A61, Panax simplex var. quercifolium C06]

Neopanax simplex var. sinclairii (Hooker) Allan 1961 [=Panax sinclairii Hooker 1864, Nothopanax sinclairii (Hooker) Seem. 1866] A61

Pseudopanax crassifolium (Sol. ex Cunn.) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 [=Aralia crassifolia Sol. ex Cunn. 1839, Hedera crassifolia Gray 1854, Panax crassifolium (Sol.) Decne & Planch. 1854; incl. Pa. coriaceum Regel 1859, Pa. longissimum Hooker 1864, Pseudopanax crassifolium var. trifoliolatum Kirk 1889, P. crassifolium var. unifoliolatum Kirk 1889] A61

Pseudopanax gilliesii Kirk 1899 A61 [incl. Panax lessonii var. heterophylla Kirk 1878 A61, Aralia heterophylla C06]

Pseudopanax lessonii (DC.) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 A61 [=Panax lessonii DC. 1830 A61, Aralia lessonii C06, Cussonia lessonii Rich. 1832 A61, Hedera lessonii Gray 1854 A61]

Pseudopanax lineare (Hooker) Koch in Koch & Fint. 1859 [=Panax linearis Hooker 1853, Nothopanax lineare (Hooker) Harms 1894] A61

Raukaua edgerleyi (Hooker) Seem. 1866 H98, A61 [=Panax edgerleyi Hooker 1853 A61, Nothopanax edgerleyi (Hooker) Harms 1894 A61, Pseudopanax edgerleyi (Hooker) Koch in Kich & Fint. 1859 A61]

Raukaua × parvus (Kirk) Heenan 1998 [R. anomalus × R. simplex; =Panax simplex var. parvus Kirk 1899, Nothopanax parvum (Kirk) Cockayne 1909; incl. N. × anomosimplex Allan 1927 (n. n.), N. × simpan Allan 1926 (n. n.), N. × simpanomalum Cockayne 1929 (n. n.)] H98

Raukaua × serratus (Kirk) Heenan 1998 [R. edgerleyi × R. simplex; =Panax edgerleyi var. serratus Kirk 1889, R. edgerleyi var. serratus (Kirk) Mitchell 1997] H98

Schefflera digitata Forster & Forster 1776 [incl. S. cunninghamii Miq. 1844, Aralia schefflera Spreng. 1813] A61

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand vol. 1. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. R. E. Owen, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[BTA75] Baker, E. W., D. M. Tuttle & M. J. Abbatiello. 1975. The false spider mites of northwestern and north central Mexico (Acarina: Tenuipalpidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 194: 1–23.

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 2. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[CBH93] Collinson, M. E., M. C. Boulter & P. L. Holmes. 1993. Magnoliophyta (‘Angiospermae’). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 809–841. Chapman & Hall: London.

[C70] Common, I. F. B. 1970. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 765–866. Melbourne University Press.

[DVC08] Darbyshire, I., K. Vollesen & H. M. Chapman. 2008. A remarkable range disjunction recorded in Metarungia pubinervia (Acanthaceae). Kew Bulletin 63 (4): 613–615.

[D07] Dash, S. S. 2007. Useful plants of Kabi Sacred Grove, Sikkim. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 79–88.

[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. The vegetation of western Patagonia. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 1–34. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.

[F11] Fraga, R. M. 2011. Family Icteridae (New World blackbirds). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 684–807. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[HH00] Hart, J. M., & M. J. Henwood. 2000. Systematics of the Xanthosia pilosa complex (Apiaceae: Hydrocotyloideae). Australian Systematic Botany 13 (2): 245–266.

[H98] Heenan, P. B. 1998. The status of Raukaua edgerleyi var. serratus and R. × parvus comb. nov. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36: 307–310.

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.

[JD05] Junge, F. W., M. Dolezych, H. Walther, T. Böttger, A. Kühl, L. Kunzmann, P. Morgenstern, T. Steinberg & R. Stange. 2005. Ein Fenster in Landschaft und Vegetation vor 37 Millionen Jahren: Lithologische, sedimentgeochemische und paläobotanische Befunde aus einem Paläoflusssystem des Weißelsterbeckens. Mauritiana 19 (2): 185–273.

[K03] Kårehed, J. 2003. The family Pennantiaceae and its relationships to Apiales. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141: 1–24.

[LO98] Lack, H. W., & H. Ohba. 1998. Die Xylothek des Chikusai Kato. Willdenowia 28: 263–276.

[M94] May, B. M. 1994. An introduction to the immature stages of Australian Curculionoidea. In: Zimmerman, E. C. Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) vol. 2. Brentidae, Eurhynchidae, Apionidae and a chapter on immature stages by Brenda May pp. 365–728. CSIRO Australia.

[MH98] Morikawa, H., A. Higaki, M. Nohno, M. Takahashi, M. Kamada, M. Nakata, G. Toyohara, Y. Okamura, K. Matsui, S. Kitani, K. Fujita, K. Irifune & N. Goshima. 1998. More than a 600-fold variation in nitrogen dioxide assimilation among 217 plant taxa. Plant, Cell and Environment 21: 180–190.

[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1-487.

[NS06] Nie, Z.-L., H. Sun, H. Li & J. Wen. 2006. Intercontinental biogeography of subfamily Orontioideae (Symplocarpus, Lysichiton, and Orontium) of Araceae in eastern Asia and North America. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (1): 155–165.

[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: an introductory note. In: Ohba, H., & S. B. Malla (eds) The Himalayan Plants vol. 1. The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19–46.

[P03] Paul, T. K. 2003. Botanical observations on the Purulia pumped storage hydropower project area, Bagmundi Hills, Purulia district, West Bengal. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 45: 121–142.

[P95] Philipson, W. R. 1995. Araliaceae (excluding Schefflera). In: Conn, B. J. (ed.) Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea vol. 3 pp. 1–48. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Australia).

[RA07] Rodrigues, J. C. V., D. Achor, E. W. Kitajima, N. L. Nogueira & C. C. Childers. 2007. Plant diseases and injuries associated with Brevipalpus mites. In: Morales-Malacara, J. B., V. M. Behan-Pelletier, E. Ueckermann, T. M. Pérez, E. G. Estrada-Venegas & M. Badii (eds) Acarology XI: Proceedings of the International Congress pp. 381–390. Instituto de Biología and Faculdad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Sociedad Latinoamericana de Acarología: México.

[SWK87] Snyder, N. F. R., J. W. Wiley & C. B. Kepler. 1987. The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural history and conservation of the Puerto Rican parrot. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology: Los Angeles.

[S62] Stone, B. C. 1962. Boerlagiodendron (Araliaceae) in eastern Melanesia. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 75: 25–32.

[SK02] Sumithramma, N., A. R. V. Kumar, K. Chandrashekara & D. Rajagopal. 2002. Plant selection for nesting by Oecophylla smaragdina, Hymenoptera: Formicidae: do physical features affect the choice of the plant? Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 408–412.

[T00] Thorne, R. F. 2000. The classification and geography of the flowering plants: dicotyledons of the class Angiospermae (subclasses Magnoliidae, Ranunculidae, Caryophyllidae, Dilleniidae, Rosidae, Asteridae, and Lamiidae). The Botanical Review 66: 441–647.

[T03] Tsurusaki, N. 2003. Phenology and biology of harvestmen in and near Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, with some taxonomical notes on Nelima suzukii n. sp. and allies (Arachnida: Opiliones). Acta Arachnologica 52: 5–24.

[V02] Vánky, K. 2002. The smut fungi of the world. a survey. Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica 49 (2–3): 163–175.

[YY22] Yampolsky, C., & H. Yampolsky. 1922. Distribution of sex forms in the phanerogamic flora. Bibliotheca Genetica 3: 1–62.

Last updated: 20 March 2019.