Aralia gigantea J. Wen; A. lihengiana J. Wen et al.; Parapentapanax racemosus (Seemann) Hutchinson.
Trees, evergreen, or epiphytic shrubs, to 10 m tall, probably hermaphroditic. Leaves 1-pinnately compound; petiole 9-17 cm; petiolules 0.2-2 cm, those of terminal leaflets 3.5-7 cm; leaflets (3-)5-7, ovate, 7-21 × 3.5-13 cm, membranous or papery, glabrous, secondary veins 8-10 pairs, distinct, tertiary veins indistinct, base rounded to subcordate, rarely cordate or acute, margin subentire or sparsely serrate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of racemes, pilose; primary axis 6-15 cm; secondary axes 6-16, each to 45 cm; tertiary axes 15-40, each 4-9 cm; pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm, pilose. Ovary 3-5-carpellate; styles free or united at base to middle. Fruit globose to ovoid-globose, 3-4 × 2.2-4 mm; styles persistent, recurved. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jun-Aug.
Evergreen to warm-temperate forests; 1500-3200 m. SE Xizang (Cona), S, SW, and W Yunnan [Bhutan, E India, Nepal].
Wen (Cathaya 13-14: 89-92. 2002) recognized Aralia lihengiana as distinct from Pentapanax racemosus (for which the correct name is A. gigantea when treated in Aralia) on the basis of differences in the size and shape of inflorescence bracts, the number of carpels, the degree of style fusion, and fruit shape.
