''Schefflera'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

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 ...

with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands. The genus is named in honor of , physician and botanist of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, and later of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, who contributed plants to for Reyger's book, ''Tentamen Florae Gedanensis''.

Taxonomy

The

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

of the genus has varied greatly. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the widely used broad circumscription was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, so most of its hundreds of species have been reassigned to other genera. Molecular analyses have recovered five polyphyletic clades of ''Schefflera'', all of which are geographically isolated from one another yet share similar traits indicating

parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and pa ...

. These clades have been split into separate genera, primarily along geographical lines, with ''Schefflera'' now consisting of thirteen species restricted to New Zealand and some Pacific islands. The houseplant popularly known as "Schefflera" is now ''

Heptapleurum arboricola ''Heptapleurum arboricola'' (syn. ''Schefflera arboricola'', ) is a flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Hainan Province, China and Taiwan. Its common name is dwarf umbrella tree, as it resembles a smaller version of the umbrella t ...

''. The old ''

Didymopanax ''Didymopanax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. It was resurrected from ''Schefflera'' in 2020. Species The following species are accepted: * ...

'' Decne. & Planch., 1854 genus was resurrected in 2020 to welcome the 37 American species of ''Schefflera'' J.R. et G. Forst.. The genus has had a turbulent taxonomic history; the list of former

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

includes: *''Actinomorphe'' *''Actinophyllum'' *''Agalma'' *''

Astropanax ''Astropanax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Tropical Africa, Madagascar, and other Indian Ocean islands. It was resurrected from ''Schefflera ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ar ...

'' *''Brassaia'' *''Cephaloschefflera'' *''

Crepinella ''Crepinella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to tropical South America. It was resurrected from ''Schefflera ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to Ne ...

'' *''

'' *''Geopanax'' *''

Heptapleurum ''Heptapleurum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to the Indian Subcontinent, Tibet, southern China, Hainan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, Japan, and Australia. It was resurrected from ''Schefflera ' ...

'' *''

Neocussonia ''Neocussonia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Araliaceae. Its native range is Tanzania to s. Africa and Madagascar. It is also found in the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Provinces (regions of South Africa), ...

'' *''Nesopanax'' *''Parapanax'' *''Paratropia'' *''

Plerandra ''Plerandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae that has long been considered a synonym of ''Schefflera'', which has been a polyphyletic group. Species Species include: * '' Plerandra actinostigma'' (A.C. Sm. & B.C. Stone) ...

'' *'' Sciadophyllum'' *''Tupidanthus''

Species

13 species are currently accepted: *'' Schefflera balansana'' – New Caledonia *''

Schefflera candelabrum ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands. The genus is named in honor of , physician and botanist of Gdańsk, and later of Warsaw, who contributed plan ...

'' – New Caledonia *'' Schefflera coenosa'' – southeastern New Caledonia, including Isle of Pines *''

Schefflera digitata ''Schefflera digitata'', the patē, seven-finger, or umbrella tree, is a tree endemic to New Zealand belonging to the family Araliaceae. Māori names include: ''patē'', ''patatē'', ''patete'', and ''kōtētē''. It occurs in lowland to lower ...

'' – New Zealand *'' Schefflera euthytricha'' – Fiji *'' Schefflera kerchoveiana'' – Vanuatu *'' Schefflera leratii'' – New Caledonia *'' Schefflera neoebudica'' – Vanuatu *''

Schefflera ouveana ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands. The genus is named in honor of , physician and botanist of Gdańsk, and later of Warsaw, who contributed plan ...

'' – New Caledonia (

Loyalty Islands Loyalty Islands Province (, ) is one of the three top-level administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia. It encompasses the Loyalty Islands () archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre. ...

) *'' Schefflera pseudocandelabrum'' – New Caledonia *''

Schefflera samoensis ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands. The genus is named in honor of , physician and botanist of Gdańsk, and later of Warsaw, who contributed plan ...

'' – Samoa *'' Schefflera vieillardii'' – New Caledonia *'' Schefflera vitiensis'' – Fiji

Fossil record

Two

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

fruits of †''Schefflera dorofeevii'' have been extracted from bore hole samples of the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin,

West Carpathians The Western Carpathians () are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland w ...

, Poland.Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) zczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska) Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3–117.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133351 Apiales genera

Taxonomy

Species

Fossil record

See also

References