''Chengiopanax sciadophylloides'' is a flowering tree in the family

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguisha ...

native to Japan. Previously included in the genus ''

Eleutherococcus ''Eleutherococcus'' is a genus of 38 species,p.40, citing Frodin, Govaerts 2003 of thorny shrubs and trees in the family Araliaceae. They are native to eastern Asia, from southeast Siberia and Japan to the Philippines and Vietnam. 18 species co ...

'', it is distinguished from other members of that genus by not having spines or prickles and ITS sequence data confirmed the separation.

Chemistry

''Chengiopanax sciadophylloides'' has been found to be a specific

hyperaccumulator A hyperaccumulator is a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals, absorbing these metals through their roots, and concentrating extremely high levels of metals in their tissues. The metals are concentrated a ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

even in soils not contaminated with excessive amounts of manganese. In wild plants manganese concentrations of up to of dried leaf have been analyzed. After the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

in March 2011 it was found that ''Chengiopanax sciadophylloides'' accumulated the radioactive isotope Caesium-137 to concentrations above the human consumption guideline of 100 becquerels per kilogram of fresh weight even as far away as

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

and Iwate Prefectures. Analysis of leaves taken from ''Chengiopanax sciadophylloides'' in August and October 2013 from a forest northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi

Nuclear Power Plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

found a mean concentration of 28,100 becquerels per kilogram of dry weight, over three times those of other trees. They also accumulated the non-radioactive

Caesium-133 Caesium (55Cs) has 40 known isotopes, making it, along with barium and mercury, one of the elements with the most isotopes. The atomic masses of these isotopes range from 112 to 151. Only one isotope, 133Cs, is stable. The longest-lived radioisoto ...

more than other trees.

Uses

Known as ''koshiabura'' (コシアブラ), ''gonzetsu'' and ''gonzetsunoki'' in

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...

, it is foraged in the wild in Spring for the young leaves as ''

sansai is a Japanese word literally meaning "mountain vegetables", originally referring to vegetables that grew naturally, were foraged in the wild, and not grown and harvested from fields. However, in modern times, the distinction is somewhat blur ...

'' ("mountain vegetables").* (government website PDF) Called the "queen of sansai". Often used in

tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ''tem ...

but popular in a range of dishes. The highest grade of buds is as small as a calligraphy brush and so named ''fude ha'' ("leaf of brush"). A decoction of the roots, tea of the root bark, and tea of the leaf were used in the Niigata Prefecture as a folk remedy. A lacquer-like coating material called used to be made from the sap. The polyacetylenes in the plant sap were polymerised by sunlight to produce the hard resin varnish. Two other members of the Araliaceae, ''

Dendropanax trifidus ''Dendropanax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, consisting of 92 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, first described by Joseph Decaisne & Jules Émile Planchon in 1854.Decaisne, J. & Planchon, J.E. (1854) Rev. Hort. ar ...

'' and ''

Gamblea innovans ''Gamblea'' is a genus of plants of the family Araliaceae, comprising four species. It originally comprised a single species, ''Gamblea ciliata'', which is found in India. The genus's native range stretches from the Himalaya to Japan and Sumatera ...

'', may also have been sources for this lacquer in Japan. The lacquer was used to prevent corrosion of suits of armour and helmets, with related species providing a similar lacquer used in China during the

T'ang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...

and in Korea. The wood is used for general construction and for

chopsticks Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...

. The wood is regarded as auspicious and is valued in the Sasano-Bori doll carving tradition in

Yonezawa Yonezawa City Hall is a city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 81,707 in 33,278 households, and a population density of 150 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Yonezawa is most famous for ...

(along with the wood of the

Pagoda Tree ''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly included withi ...

) for its strength and flexibility.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15546763 Araliaceae Leaf vegetables Flora of Japan Endemic flora of Japan