''Polyscias racemosa'', or false 'ohe, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

. As ''Munroidendron racemosum'', the species was until recently considered to be the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Munroidendron''. With the change in classification, ''Munroidendron'' is now obsolete. ''Polyscias racemosa'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

.David G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. ''World Checklist and Bibliography of Araliaceae''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. . (See ''External links'' below). It is very rare in the

wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

and some of its original

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

has been replaced by

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s.Earl Edward Sherff. 1956. "Some Recently Collected Dicotyledonous Hawaiian Island and Peruvian Plants". ''American Journal of Botany'' 43(7):475-478. It was thought for some time to be probably

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, but was rediscovered a few years prior to 1967.Benjamin C. Stone. 1967. "A review of the endemic genera of Hawaiian plants" ''Botanical Review'' (Lancaster) 33(3):216-259. Using

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

methods,

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...

of DNA have shown that the closest relative of ''Munroidendron racemosum'' is ''

Reynoldsia sandwicensis ''Polyscias sandwicensis'', known as the 'ohe makai or ''Ohe kukuluāeo'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is a tree, reaching a height of high with a trunk diameter of . It ca ...

''.Gregory M. Plunkett and Porter P. Lowry II. 2010. "Paraphyly and polyphyly in ''Polyscias'' sensu lato: molecular evidence and the case for recircumscribing the "pinnate genera" of Araliaceae". ''Plant Diversity and Evolution'' (formerly ''Botanische Jahrbucher'') 128(1-2):23-54. . These two

are now known as ''Polyscias racemosa'' and ''

Polyscias sandwicensis ''Polyscias sandwicensis'', known as the 'ohe makai or ''Ohe kukuluāeo'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is a tree, reaching a height of high with a trunk diameter of . It ca ...

'', respectively. They are two of the 21 species now placed in ''Polyscias'' subgenus ''Tetraplasandra''.Porter P. Lowry II and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2010. "Recircumscription of ''Polyscias'' (Araliaceae) to include six related genera, with a new infrageneric classification and a synopsis of species". ''

Plant Diversity and Evolution This is a list of academic journals, monographic series, and other serials published by E. Schweizerbart. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R S T U V W Z {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, *''Zeitschrift d ...

'' (formerly ''Botanische Jahrbucher'') 128(1-2):55-84. . (See ''External links'' below). ''Polyscias racemosa'' is known in cultivation in Hawaii.Clyde T. Imada, George W. Staples, and Derral R. Herbst. undated. Annotated Checklist of Cultivated Plants of Hawai‘i. (See ''External links'' below). Cultivation procedures for ''Polyscias racemosa'' have been studied.Kerin E. Lilleeng-Rosenberger. 2005. ''Growing Hawaii's Native Plants''. Mutual Publishing.

Description

''Polyscias racemosa'' is a small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to tall, with a straight

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

, spreading

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

es, and smooth, grey

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

.Warren L. Wagner, Derral R. Herbst, and Sy H. Sohmer. ''Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii'', Revised Edition, 1999. Bishop Museum Press: Hololulu Like many

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of ''Polyscias'', it is sparingly branched and thick- stemmed, with large

imparipinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves, but not as extreme in these characteristics as is ''

Polyscias nodosa ''Polyscias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. They bear pinnately compound leaves. In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae.David G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. ''World Checklist and Bibl ...

''. Its

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

, long, with oval leaflets, each of which is over long. These trees are

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, dropping most of their leaves during their

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

blooming Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. Its small, pale

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s hang in long, rope-like strands. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

racemose A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

in form, with up to 250 flowers.Peter S. Green (author) and Mary Grierson (illustrator). 1996. ''A Hawaiian Florilegium: Botanical Portraits from Paradise''. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, Hawaii. . File:Polyscias racemosa (5454956091).jpg, Flowers File:Polyscias racemosa (5455568842).jpg, Inflorescence File:Starr-090421-6250-Polyscias racemosa-leaves-Keikilani Rd Pukalani-Maui (24952473915).jpg, Leaves File:Starr 061108-9821 Munroidendron racemosum.jpg, New Leaves

Habitat and range

''Polyscias racemosa'' occurs in coastal mesic and mixed mesic forests at

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s of , where it grows on exposed cliffs and ridges.

Associated Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California * Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associati ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

species include papala kepau (''

Pisonia umbellifera ''Ceodes umbellifera'', synonym ''Pisonia umbellifera'', commonly known as the birdlime tree or bird catcher tree, is a species of plant in the Nyctaginaceae family. The evergreen shrub has soft wood, small pink or yellow flowers, and produces cav ...

''), āwikiwiki (''

Canavalia ''Canavalia'' is a genus of plants in the legume family ( Fabaceae) that comprises approximately 48 to 50 species of tropical vines. Members of the genus are commonly known as jack-beans. The species of ''Canavalia'' endemic to the Hawaiian Isl ...

galeata Galeata ( rgn, Gagliêda) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Forlì. Galeata borders the following municipalities: Civ ...

''), ilima (''

Sida fallax ''Sida fallax'', known as yellow ilima or golden mallow, is a species of herbaceous flowering plant in the ''Hibiscus'' family, Malvaceae, indigenous to the Hawaiian Archipelago and other Pacific Islands. Plants may be erect or prostrate and are ...

''), ōlulu (''

Brighamia insignis ''Brighamia insignis'', commonly known as ''ʻŌlulu'' or ''Alula'' in Hawaiian, or colloquially as the vulcan palm or cabbage on a stick, is a endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae. It is native to t ...

''), alahee (''

Psydrax odorata ''Psydrax odorata'', known as ''alahee'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Description The species range from in height, h ...

''), kōpiko (''

Psychotria ''Psychotria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 1,582 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understor ...

'' spp.), olopua (''

Nestegis sandwicensis ''Nestegis sandwicensis'', commonly known as Hawai'i olive or ''olopua'', is a species of flowering tree in the olive family, Oleaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is found on all major islands at elevations of in coastal mesic and mixed mes ...

''), ahakea (''

Bobea timonioides ''Ahakea'' (''Bobea timonioides'') is a species of flowering tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It inhabits dry, coastal mesic and mixed mesic forests at elevations of on the islands of Hawaii and Maui. It is th ...

''), hala pepe ('' Pleomele aurea''), and ālaa (''

Pouteria ''Pouteria'' is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical regions of the world. It includes the canistel ('' P. campechiana''), the mamey sapote ('' P. sapota''), and the lu ...

sandwicensis''). It occurs naturally in only three locations on Kauai: Nounou Mountain, the cliffs of the Nā Pali Coast, and Haupu Ridge near Nāwiliwili Bay.

History

''Polyscias racemosa'' first entered the

botanical literature Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

in 1917, when it was described and named as ''Tetraplasandra racemosa'' by

Charles Noyes Forbes Charles Noyes Forbes (1883–1920) was an American botanist who primarily worked on Hawaii. Biography Forbes was born in Boylston, Massachusetts on 24 September 1883.Occasional papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnolog ...

.Charles Noyes Forbes. 1917. "New Hawaiian Plants.-VI." ''Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum'' 6(4):51. (See ''External links'' below).

Earl Edward Sherff Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

felt that this species was uniquely distinct from the rest of ''Tetraplasandra'', so he erected a new genus for it, ''Munroidendron'', in 1952.''Munroidendron'' in

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

. (see ''External links'' below). The genus was named for

George Campbell Munro George Campbell Munro (10 May 1866 – 4 December 1963) was a New Zealand born pioneer of Hawaiian botany and ornithology. He settled on a ranch in Lanai and wrote one of the first books on the birds of Hawaii, many species of which are now extinct ...

(1866-1963), described by Umberto Quattrocchi as "a pioneer in Hawaiian

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

;

plant collector Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collecting i ...

in the Hawaiian Islands".Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'', volume III. CRC Press: Baton Rouge, New York, London, Washington DC. (vol. III). (see ''External links'' below). ''Dendron'' is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word for "tree". Munro was apparently the first collector to see his

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous genus, ''Munroidendron''.Earl Edward Sherff. 1952. "''Munroidendron'', a new genus of Araliaceous trees from the island of Kauai". ''Botanical Leaflets'' 7(section V):21-24. published by the author. Sherff separated ''Munroidendron'' from ''Tetraplasandra'' on the basis of five characters: the absence of

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

lules, the

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

of the

s in a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

, the sunken,

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

-shaped

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

scars, the long, persistence of the subtending floral

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s, and the

insertion Insertion may refer to: *Insertion (anatomy), the point of a tendon or ligament onto the skeleton or other part of the body *Insertion (genetics), the addition of DNA into a genetic sequence *Insertion, several meanings in medicine, see ICD-10-PCS ...

of the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s in only one

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

, even when numerous. It has been shown that, in spite of its appearance, the inflorescence is not truly a raceme because it is

determinate In logic and philosophy (especially metaphysics), a property is a characteristic of an object; a red object is said to have the property of redness. The property may be considered a form of object in its own right, able to possess other propertie ...

. Sherff divided the species now known as ''Polyscias racemosa'' into three

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: var. racemosa, var. forbesii, and var. macdanielsii. These have been described as "not sufficiently distinct to be retained". The establishment of ''Munroidendron'' was contentious from the beginning. William R. Philipson said that ''Munroidendron'' "comprises a single species with such a distinct inflorescence and corolla that it can well claim generic

status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status conference ...

.William R. Philipson. 1970. "A redefinition of ''Gastonia'' and related genera (Araliaceae)". ''Blumea'' 18(2):497-505. In 1971, a

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

study indicated that ''Munroidendron'' might be embedded in ''Tetraplasandra''.Charles C. Tseng. 1971. "Light and Scanning Electron Microscopic Studies on Pollen of ''Tetraplasandra'' (Araliaceae) and Relatives". ''American Journal of Botany'' 58(6):505-516. This result was not supported by

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

based on

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s of

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

and

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...

DNA regions. These studies show that ''

'' (formerly ''

'' is not most closely related to other species of '' Reynoldsia'', but is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to ''Polyscias racemosa'', (formerly ''Munroidendron'').Annemarie Costello and Timothy J. Motley. 2007. "Phylogenetics of the Tetraplasandra Group (Araliaceae) Inferred from ITS, 5S-NTS, and Morphology". ''Systematic Botany'' 32(2):464-477. This pair is then sister to a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

Tetraplasandra ''Tetraplasandra'' is a no longer recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. They are small to medium trees, (rarely shrubs or large trees) of mesic to wet forests.Porter P. Lowry II. 1990. "Araliaceae", pages 224-237. In: Warren L ...

'' in the

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the cen ...

of Philipson (1970). This pair of species and the nine species formerly in ''Tetraplasandra'' form a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

and comprise all of the Hawaiian species of ''Polyscias''. The 11 species of this "Hawaiian clade" and 10 species from

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

, and southern

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

constitute ''Polyscias'' subgenus Tetraplasandra.

Description

Habitat and range

History

References

External links