Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Apiales Nakai
Family
Araliaceae
Genus
Pseudopanax K.Koch
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pseudopanax lessonii (DC.) K.Koch, Wochenschr. Gärtnerei Pflanzenk. 2: 366 (1859)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Panax lessonii DC., Prodr. [A. P. de Candolle] 4, 253 (1830)
  • = Cussonia lessonii A.Rich., Essai Fl. Nouv.-Zél., 285, t. 32 (1832)
  • = Hedera lessonii A.Gray, U.S. Explor. Exped., Phan. 719 (1854)
Vernacular Name(s):
Houmāpara; Houpara; Houparapara; Kokotai; Oho; Parapara; Whauwhau
 Description

Shrub or tree up to 6 m. tall, branches stout with lvs crowded towards tips of branchlets, 3–5-foliolate, lvs of juveniles larger than those of adults. Petioles 5–15 cm. long, stout. Lflts subsessile, obovate-cuneate, sinuate-crenate to bluntly serrate in upper half, subacute to obtuse, thick and coriac.; terminal lflt with short petiolule, c. 5–10 × 2–4 cm. Umbels terminal, compound; staminate with 4–8 primary rays c. 4–5 cm. long, fls racemosely arranged along secondary rays; pistillate with shorter rays, fls in irregular umbellules. Ovary 5-loculed, 5-ovuled, style-branches 5, connate, tips spreading. Fr. oblong in outline, c. 7 × 5 mm.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Dec.–Feb.

 Bibliography
de Candolle, A. P. 1830: Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. Vol. 4. Treuttel et Würtz, Paris.
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]
Gray, A. 1854: United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. vol. XV. Botany. Phanerogamia by Asa Gray with a Folia Atlas of 100 Plates. Part 1. Philadelphia.
Koch, C. In: Koch, C.; Fintelmann, G. A. 1859: Wochenschrift für Gärtnerei und Pflanzenkunde 2
Richard, A. 1832: Essai d'une Flore de la Nouvelle Zélande. In: Dumont d'Urville, J. Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe. Botanique. Tastu, Paris.