Fatsia japonica

Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Magnoliophyta
Classis: Magnoliopsida
Ordo: Apiales
Familia: Araliaceae
Subfamilia: Aralioideae
Genus: Fatsia
Species: Fatsia japonica

Synonyms

Basionym

* Aralia japonica Thunb., Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal. 3: 207. 1780.

Homotypic

* Dimorphanthus japonicus (Thunb.) Endl., Cat. Horti Vindob. 2: 176. 1842.
* Echinopanax japonicus (Thunb.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 271. 1891.

Heterotypic

* Aralia sieboldii K.Koch, Wochenschr. Gärtnerei Pflanzenk. 2: 407. 1858.
* Fatsia japonica f. albomarginata Nakai, J. Arn. Arb. 5: 16. 1924.
* Fatsia japonica f. aureovariegata Nakai, J. Arn. Arb. 5: 17. 1924.
* Fatsia japonica f. lobulata (Makino) Nakai, J. Arn. Arb. 5: 17. 1924.
* Fatsia japonica f. undulata Nakai, J. Arn. Arb. 5: 17. 1924.
* Fatsia japonica f. variegata (Veitch) Nakai, J. Arn. Arb. 5: 16. 1924.
* Fatsia japonica var. liukiuensis Hatus. ex H.Ohba, Fl. Japan 2c: 262. 1999.
* Fatsia japonica var. lobulata Makino, J. Jap. Bot. 1: 10. 1916.

References

* The International Plant Names Index (2009). Published on the Internet. 2009 Dec 23 [1].

* Govaerts, R. & al. 2006. World Checklist of selected plant families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens. 2009 Dec 23 [2]

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Deutsch: Zimmeraralie
Ελληνικά: Φάτσια Ιαπωνική
Italiano: Aralia
Nederlands: Vingerplant
Türkçe: Fatsiya

Fatsia japonica (Fatsi or Japanese Aralia; syn. Aralia japonica Thunb., A. sieboldii Hort. ex K.Koch) is a species of Fatsia, native to southern Japan.

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 3-6 m tall, with stout, sparsely branched stems. The leaves are spirally-arranged, large, 20-50 cm in width and on a petiole up to 50 cm long, leathery, palmately lobed, with 7-9 broad lobes, divided to half or two-thirds of the way to the base of the leaf; the lobes are edged with coarse, blunt teeth. The flowers are small, white, borne in dense terminal compound umbels in late autumn or early winter, followed by small black fruit.

The name "Fatsi" is an approximation of the old Japanese word for 'eight' (hachi in modern Japanese), referring to the eight lobes. The name "Japanese Aralia" is due to the genus formerly being classified within a broader interpretation of the related genus Aralia in the past.

Cultivation and uses

It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant in warm temperate regions where winters do not fall below about -15°C. In Japan it is known as Yatsuba meaning eaight fingers.

References

* Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.
* BBC Gardening: Fatsia japonica