''Polyscias sambucifolia'', commonly known as elderberry panax or small basswood, is a species of plant native to eastern Australia.

Taxonomy

Elderberry panax was first described by Franz Sieber in 1830 as ''Panax sambucifolius''. It was given its current name in 1894 by German botanist

Hermann Harms Hermann August Theodor Harms (16 July 1870 – 27 November 1942) was a German taxonomist and botanist. Harms was born in Berlin. He worked as a botanist at the Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Botanical Museum in Berlin. ...

. The taxonomy of the small basswood has been reviewed, resulting in the recognition of three sub species: ''sambucifolia'', ''decomposita'' and ''leptophylla''. Common names for these plants include small basswood, elderberry panax, ornamental ash and elderberry ash.

Description

Elderberry panax grows to 11 metres tall with a trunk diameter of 20 cm at Errinundra National Park and Otway National Park in the state of Victoria. The trunk is straight. Bark is dark brown or black. Fairly smooth, marked by lenticles, pustules and lines.

Leaves

Leaf form varies between different sub forms of this plant. See Plant Net for detailed descriptions between the sub species. Leaves 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 ...

bipinnate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...

, with leaflets. Between one and six pairs of leaflets on the leaf stem. Leaflets of sub species ''sambucifolia'' are toothed, ovate in shape. The other sub species leaves are not toothed. Leaflets 2 to 20 cm long. Leaves glossy green above, dull

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

below. A ''terminal leaflet'' is seen on the end of the compound leaf. Leaf stalks vary between 20 mm and no leaf stalk in sub species ''leptophylla''. Leaf shape varies between ovate or elliptic to broad-elliptic in sub species ''sambucifolia''. However the sessile leaflets of sub species ''leptophylla'' are oblong linear and somewhat curved (falcate) in shape. Leaf formation is two-pinnate or rarely three-pinnate in sub species ''decomposita''. Leaf veins evident on both the upper and lower surfaces. Sunken on the top of the leaf, raised below.

Flowers and fruit

The yellow/green flowers form on

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s from December to February. The fruit is an edible globose mericarp, 4 to 6 mm long and mauve or blue in colour. Each contains one or two seeds, 2 mm long. The fruit matures from January to April.

Distribution and habitat

The natural range of distribution is from

Cape Otway Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. The cape marks the boundary between the Southern Ocea ...

(38° S) in the state of Victoria to the

McPherson Range The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra, Queensland, Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border ...

(28° S), on the border of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It is often seen on the edge of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

Ecology

The caterpillars of the elderberry panax leaf roller ('' Cryptoptila australana'') eat the leaves, currawongs eat the fruit, dispersing the seeds afterwards. The species also regenerates from root suckers after bushfire, and suckering has been recorded at other times. It can colonise disturbed habitats.

Uses

Elderberry panax has attractive foliage and fruit.

References

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(other publication details, included in citation)

''Polyscias sambucifolia'' at NSW Flora Online
Retrieved 20 August 2009 {{Taxonbar, from=Q7226929 sambucifolia Apiales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state)