''Fatsia'' is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of three species of

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s 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 commonly called the ginseng family. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely ...

native to southern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. They typically have stout, sparsely branched stems bearing spirally-arranged, large leathery, palmately lobed

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

20–50 cm in width, on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

up to 50 cm long, and small creamy-white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s in dense terminal compound

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

s in late autumn or early winter, followed by small black

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

. The genus was formerly classified within a broader interpretation of the related genus ''

Aralia ''Aralia'' , or spikenard, is a genus of the family Araliaceae, consisting of 68 accepted species of deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs, and rhizomatous herbaceous perennials. The genus is native to Asia and the Americas, with most species oc ...

''.

Species

A sterile

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

between ''Fatsia japonica'' and ''

Hedera hibernica ''Hedera hibernica'', the Atlantic ivy or Irish ivy, is a species of ivy native to the Atlantic coast of Europe. Description It is an evergreen climbing plant, growing to 20–30 m high where suitable surfaces (trees, cliffs, walls) are availab ...

'', named × ''Fatshedera lizei'', has been produced in cultivation in

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

in both plain green and variegated forms. Some species formerly included in ''Fatsia'' are now classified in other genera. ''Fatsia papyrifera'' is now ''

Tetrapanax papyrifer ''Tetrapanax papyrifer'', the rice paper plant (通草—''tong cao''), is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Araliaceae, the sole species in the genus ''Tetrapanax''. The specific epithet is frequently misspelled as "papyriferum", "p ...

'' and ''Fatsia horrida'' is now '' Oplopanax horridus''. Image:Fatsia japonica leaf.jpg, A small ''Fatsia japonica'' leaf Image:Fatsia japonica1.jpg, Close-up of flower

Image:Fatsia in Natchez, MS IMG_6970.JPG, Fatsia, Japanese aralia at

Rosalie Mansion Rosalie Mansion is a historic pre-Civil War Plantation house in the Southern United States, mansion and historic house museum in Natchez, Mississippi. Built in 1823, it was a major influence on Antebellum architecture in the greater region, inspi ...

in Natchez,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

References

External links

Photos of various ''Fatsia'' forms and species for comparison
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1763723 Apiales genera Taxa named by Jules Émile Planchon Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne