Fatsia japonica (*) Cladus: Eukaryota 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. Heterotypic * Aralia sieboldii K.Koch, Wochenschr. Gärtnerei Pflanzenk. 2: 407. 1858.
* 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 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. Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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