台湾羽叶参 tai wan yu ye shen

Aralia castanopsidicola (Hayata) J. Wen.

Shrubs or small trees, hermaphroditic or andromonoecious. Leaves 1-pinnately compound; petiole 4-13 cm; petiolule of terminal leaflet to 2.5 cm, those of lateral leaflets very short; leaflets 5-7, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 6-9 × 2.5-4 cm, papery, glabrous, secondary veins 9-10 pairs, distinct on both surfaces, base obtuse to rounded, margin serrulate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of umbels, pilose; primary axis ca. 25 cm; secondary axes 18-35, each 3.5-7 cm, with a terminal umbel of bisexual flowers and sometimes 1-5 smaller (probably male) lateral umbels; pedicels 7.5-10 mm, pilose. Ovary 5-carpellate; styles united into a column, free at apex. Fruit globose, 3-4 mm in diam.; styles persistent. Fl. Oct-Dec, fr. Jan.

● Evergreen forests, usually epiphytic on trunks of Castanopsis; 1800-2300 m. Taiwan.