Diplopanax

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Cornales

Familia: Nyssaceae
Genus: Diplopanax
Species: D. stachyanthus – D. vietnamensis
Name

Diplopanax Hand.-Mazz. Sinensia 3(8): 197–198. (1933)

Type species: Diplopanax stachyanthus Hand.-Mazz. Sinensia 3(8): 197–198.

References

Handel-Mazzetti, H.R.E. von 1933. Sinensia 3(8): 197–198.
International Plant Names Index. 2016. Diplopanax. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 10 2016.
Tropicos.org 2016. Diplopanax. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 10 Jan. 2016.

Diplopanax is a genus of flowering trees placed in the family Cornaceae or Nyssaceae. Its two known extant species inhabit the wet tropical mountains of Vietnam and southern China. They are broad-leaved evergreen trees with woody fruits and white or yellow flowers.[1]

Diplopanax was originally described from only one species, D. stachyanthus, and placed in the family Araliaceae, but this species was later discovered to be congeneric with Mastixicarpum, a genus of flowering plants known only from fossils and assumed extinct since the Pliocene.[2] (This makes Mastixicarpum an example of a Lazarus genus.) One additional species (D. vietnamensis) was subsequently found and described.[1][3]

Classification of Diplopanax is inconsistent due to ongoing investigation into its phylogenetic relationships. Although generally placed in Cornaceae, it has also been included in the family Nyssaceae, when that family is removed from Cornaceae.[3] Diplopanax is also sometimes separated, along with the genus Mastixia, into the family Mastixiaceae.[3]
References

Averyanov, L. V. & Hiep, N. T. (2002). D. vietnamensis, a New Species of Nyssaceae from Vietnam – One More Living Representative of the Tertiary Flora of Eurasia. Novon 12: 433-436. Available online (pdf)
Eyde, R. H., and Xiang, Q. Y. (1990). Fossil mastixioid (Cornaceae) alive in eastern Asia. American Journal of Botany 77, 689-692.
Fan, C. Z., and Xiang, Q. Y. (2003). Phylogenetic analyses of Cornales based on 26S rRNA and combined 26S rDNA-matK-rbcL sequence data. American Journal of Botany 90, 1357-1372.