Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Apiales Nakai
Family
Araliaceae
Genus
Pseudopanax K.Koch
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pseudopanax arboreus (L.f.) K.Koch, Wochenschr. Gärtnerei Pflanzenk. 2: 366 (1859) – as arboreum
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Panax arboreus L.f., Suppl. Pl. 441 (1782) – as arborea
  • ≡ Nothopanax arboreus (L.f.) Seem., J. Bot. 4: 296 (1866) – as arboreum
  • ≡ Neopanax arboreus (L.f.) Allan, Fl. New Zealand 1, 435 (1961) – as arboreum
Vernacular Name(s):
Five-finger; Houhou; Parapara; Puahou; Tauparapara; Whau; Whaupaku; Whauwhau; Whauwhaupaku
 Description

Tree, us. dioec., up to 8 m. tall, glab. in all parts; branches stout, spreading. Lvs 5–7-foliolate, petioles c. 15–20 cm. long, stipulately sheathing at base. Lflts on petiolules c. 3–5 cm. long, obovate-oblong to oblong-cuneate, rather thinly coriac., coarsely serrate-dentate, acute or acuminate to obtuse; midveins and main laterals evident above and below; terminal lamina 10–20 × 4–7 cm. Umbels terminal, compound; fls us. completely unisexual; primary rays 8–20, up to 10 cm. long; secondary rays 15–20; umbellules 10–15-fld. Calyx truncate or obscurely 5-toothed; petals 5, ovate to triangular, acute; ovary 2-loculed, 2-ovuled, style-branches 2, spreading. Fr. 5–8 mm. diam., almost black, somewhat compressed.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1 as Neopanax arboreus (Murray) Allan]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Edgar, E. 1973: Names in Pseudopanax C. Kock (Araliaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 11: 171–172.
Koch, C. In: Koch, C.; Fintelmann, G. A. 1859: Wochenschrift für Gärtnerei und Pflanzenkunde 2
Linnaeus, C. von, filius 1782 ("1781"): Supplementum Plantarum Systematis Vegetabilium. Orphanotrophe, Brunswig.
Perrie, L.R.; Shepherd, L.D. 2009: Reconstructing the species phylogeny of Pseudopanax (Araliaceae), a genus of hybridising trees. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 774–783.
Philipson, W.R.A. 1965: The New Zealand genera of the Araliaceae. New Zealand Journal of Botany 3: 333–341.
Seemann, B. 1866: Revision of the natural order Hederaceae. XIII. On the genus Raukana. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 4