Aralia bicrenata Wooton & Standl.

Authority

Wen, Jun. 2011. Systematics and biogeography of L. (Araliaceae): Revision of Sects. , , , and . Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 57: 1-172.

Family

Araliaceae

Scientific Name

Aralia bicrenata Wooton & Standl.

Description

Description - Robust perennial herb, 1-2.2 m tall, andromonoecious. Stem sparsely pubescent on the older parts, pubescent on the younger parts, green to greenish purple, with 4-6 leaves; rhizomes thick and horizontal. Leaves 73-120 cm long, 60-118 cm wide, ternate, spreading; stipule 3.2-8.9 cm long, 1.1-5.8 cm wide, leafy; petioles 25-45 cm long, light green to purplish green; leaflets 6-14 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, thin papery to papery, the pair of leaflets below the terminal leaflet narrowly ovate, other leaflets ovate to broadly so, acuminate to acute at apex, truncate, broadly acute to subcordate at base, commonly oblique on lateral leaflets, doubly serrate at margin; lateral veins 8-9 on each side, conspicuous on both surfaces, green and sparsely pilose on veins and veinlets on the adaxial surface, light green and pilose on veins and veinlets on the abaxial surface, petiolules 0.2-4 cm long, pilose. Inflorescence 35-50 cm long, 30-50 cm wide, terminal and axillary, the transition between the axillary inflorescence below and the upper terminal inflorescence gradual, essentially the inflorescence terminal with the lower primary branches subtended by bipinnately ternate leaves and the upper primary branches subtended by leafy bracts, the overall architecture corymbose, consisting of 10-20 primary branches, primary branches often 3-5 forming one or two circles on the upper part of the main inflorescence axis, each primary branch 8-30 cm long, consisting of 3-30 umbels, with some lateral umbels functionally male; terminal umbels 12-20 (-25)-flowered, pedicels 7-12 mm long, pubescent, tip enlarged; lateral umbels 8-15-flowered, pedicels 3-6 mm long; bracts of the upper primary branches leafy to lanceolate or linear, the leafy ones varied in size, 1-5 cm long, 0.4-3 cm wide, the lanceolate to linear true bracts 5-12 mm long, 1-3 mm wide, pilose, ciliate at margin; bracteoles 1.1-2.0 mm long, 0.4-0.7 mm wide, lanceolate, pilose, ciliate at margin. Sepals 0.4-0.6 mm long and wide, triangular, persistent on fruits; petals 1.9-2.0 mm long, 1.1-1 .3 mm wide, ovate, greenish white to white, with a conspicuous vascular bundle in the middle; stamens 5, filaments 2-2.4 mm long, anthers oblong, 0.9-1 mm long, 0.6-0.7 mm wide; ovaries 5-locular, styles 0.6-0.8 mm long at anthesis, base of styles slightly enlarged. Fruits 3.5-4.5 mm in diameter, globose, occasionally ovoid globose, dark purple, persistent styles divided to 1/3 to the base, 1.5-1.7 mm long. Seeds 2.5-2.9 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm wide, 0.4-0.5 mm thick, kidneyshaped, whitish gray, smooth.

Phenology - Flowering in July to August; fruiting in August to October.

Discussion

This species has often been treated as part of Aralia racemosa, either as a synonym (Smith 1944), or as a subspecies (Welsh and Atwood 1975). Kearney and Peebles (1951) also listed A. bicrenata as a synonym of A. racemosa; yet they also noted morphological differences between the two. In particular, their inflorescence architecture is highly distinct with A. bicrenata having the corymbose architecture and A. racemosa with the racemose overall structure. The stipule of A. bicrenata is often leafy, whereas that of A. racemosa is small, nonleafy and triangular. The stem of A. bicrenata is green to purplish green whereas that of A. racemosa is dark purple. Furthermore the leaflets of A. bicrenata are often truncate to subcordate at base, and those of A. racemosa are cordate to deeply so. Kearney and Peebles (1951) documented that the fruits of A. bicrenata are eaten by various birds.

Common Names

spikenard