圆叶羽叶参 yuan ye yu ye shen

Aralia caesia Handel-Mazzetti, Symb. Sin. 7: 702. 1933; A. staphyleina Handel-Mazzetti.

Shrubs, to 6 m tall, andromonoecious. Leaves 1- or 2-pinnately compound; petiole 2.5-9 cm; petiolules 0.2-9 cm; leaflets (3-)5-7, ovate or suborbicular, 3-6 × 4.5-6.5 cm, papery or subleathery, glabrous, secondary veins 4-6 pairs, tertiary veins distinct on both surfaces, base rounded, sometimes oblique or subcordate, margin sparsely serrulate, apex acute. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of umbels, glabrous; primary axis to ca. 30 cm; secondary axes 8-10, each ca. 30 cm, with a terminal umbel of bisexual flowers and 1-5 lateral umbels of male flowers; peduncle 2.5-4 cm; pedicels 1.2-1.3 cm (shorter in male flowers). Ovary 5-carpellate; styles 5, free. Fruit globose, 5-6.5 mm in diam.; styles persistent, reflexed. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep.

● Open thickets, rocky slopes, on limestone; 2400-3000 m. SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan.