Raukaua

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Raukaua
Raukaua laetevirens.JPG
Raukaua laetevirens
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Subfamily: Aralioideae
Genus: Raukaua
Seem.
Type species
Raukaua edgerleyi

Raukaua is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. It has an austral distribution, being indigenous to southern Argentina and Chile, as well as New Zealand and the island of Tasmania. [1]

Contents

Raukaua is a genus of woody plants. They vary in habit: for example R. laetevirens is a small tree, while R. valdiviensis is a liana. Like most of Araliaceae, they have palmately compound leaves. The leaves are heteroblastic, that is, conspicuously different in form from juvenile to adult. R. simplex often produces root suckers and on these, the further the sucker is from the main shoot, the more juvenile the form of the leaves. [1]

The Māori extracted an aromatic oil from the leaves of R. edgerleyi.[ citation needed ] The essential oils of the New Zealand species have been the subject of a phytochemical analysis. [2]

All of the species of Raukaua have been placed in Pseudopanax at one time or another, and sometimes in other genera as well. [3] Molecular phylogenetic comparisons of DNA sequences have shown that Raukaua is closely related to Schefflera sensu strictissimo, Cheirodendron , Motherwellia , and Cephalaralia (not Cephalaria !). [4] It might not be as close to Pseudopanax as was once believed. [5]

Raukaua is known to be polyphyletic and will eventually be revised, [4] but in its current circumscription, it comprises six species. [3] R. gunnii is endemic to Tasmania. R. laetevirens and R. valdiviensis are from southern Chile and Argentina, the latter being restricted to the Valdivian temperate rain forest.[ citation needed ]R. anomalus, R. edgerleyi, and R. simplex are from New Zealand.[ citation needed ] There are naturally occurring hybrids between R. simplex and the other two New Zealand species. [6]

The type species for Raukaua is Raukaua edgerleyi. [7]

Species and hybrids

Species
Hybrids

History

The genus Raukaua was erected by Berthold Carl Seemann in 1866 [8] in Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. [9] The genus name is a Latinization of Raukawa, the Māori name for Raukaua edgerleyi. [10] Upon publication, the name was misspelled as Raukana, complicating issues of priority and valid publication, but Seeman published a correction in 1868 that read "Raukaua, Seem., read always Raukaua.". [11]

Subsequently, most authors did not recognize Seemann's genus, and they usually placed its species in other genera, usually Pseudopanax .[ citation needed ] In cases where Raukaua was accepted, it usually included only the New Zealand species.

Raukaua was last revised in 1997, in the New Zealand Journal of Botany. [10] The status of the two hybrids was clarified in 1998. [6] In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae. [3]

Phylogenetic studies of Araliaceae have indicated that Raukaua might be paraphyletic or polyphyletic. The polyphyly of Raukaua was confirmed and clarified in 2012, in a molecular phylogenetic study. [4] The following relationships were resolved. The New Zealand species are sister to a clade consisting of Schefflera sensu strictissimo and Cheirodendron . Schefflera s.ss. is a Melanesian and Polynesian group. [12] Cheirodendron is endemic to Hawaii. The South American species are sister to a clade comprising the Tasmanian R. gunnii and the monospecific mainland Australian genera Cephalaralia and Motherwellia . R. gunnii is sister to the clade [Cephalaralia + Motherwellia]. [4] Because of the polyphyly of Raukaua, its South American and Tasmanian species must eventually be transferred to other genera. A treatment of Araliaceae has already been submitted for the book series entitled The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Araliaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

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 distinguishable based on its woody habit, tropical distribution, and the presence of simple umbels.

<i>Gastonia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

GastoniaCommerson ex Lamarck is a formerly accepted genus of plants in the ivy and ginseng family, Araliaceae. It had been known as an unnatural group, but was recognized as late as 2010, when its nine species were distributed to four different subgenera of the large genus Polyscias. Because the genus Gastonia is now obsolete, its species are herein referred to by their names in Polyscias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochnaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Ochnaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. In the APG III system of classification of flowering plants, Ochnaceae is defined broadly, to include about 550 species, and encompasses what some taxonomists have treated as the separate families Medusagynaceae and Quiinaceae. In a phylogenetic study that was published in 2014, Ochnaceae was recognized in the broad sense, but two works published after APG III have accepted the small families Medusagynaceae and Quiinaceae. These have not been accepted by APG IV (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthold Carl Seemann</span> German botanist

Berthold Carl Seemann, was a German botanist. He travelled widely and collected and described plants from the Pacific and South America.

Schefflera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands.

<i>Polyscias racemosa</i> Species of tree

Polyscias racemosa, or false 'ohe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. As Munroidendron racemosum, the species was until recently considered to be the only species in the monotypic genus Munroidendron. With the change in classification, Munroidendron is now obsolete. Polyscias racemosa is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is very rare in the wild and some of its original habitat has been replaced by sugar cane plantations. It was thought for some time to be probably extinct, but was rediscovered a few years prior to 1967.

<i>Vitex</i> Genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae

Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae. It has about 250 species. Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to V. agnus-castus, but often applied to other species, as well.

<i>Meryta</i> Genus of plants

Meryta is a genus in the flowering plant family Araliaceae. There are 28 described species in the genus and a number of undescribed species, all small, resinous trees of the subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean, characterized by huge, simple leaves and a dioecious sexual system, a unique combination in Araliaceae. Meryta has its center of diversity in New Caledonia. Phylogenetic analyses have placed Meryta as a monophyletic genus in one of the three major clades of the Araliaciae, the Polyscias-Pseudopanax group, and more specifically in the Pacific Schefflera subclade.

Arthrophyllum is a defunct genus of plants in the family Araliaceae. It was recognized by most authors until 2010, when all of its 30 species were "sunk" into Polyscias subgenus Arthrophyllum.

Cuphocarpus is an obsolete genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. Mabberley (2008) treated it as a synonym of Polyscias, but other authors still recognized it at that time. In 2010, in a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences, it was shown that Cuphocarpus was biphyletic and embedded in the large genus Polyscias. In an accompanying paper, Polyscias was divided into 11 subgenera, with seven species left incertae sedis.

Reynoldsia is a formerly recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. In 2003, Kew Gardens published a checklist for Araliaceae, in which eight species were recognized for Reynoldsia: four from Samoa, two from Tahiti, one from the Marquesas, and one from Hawaii. In 2010, a phylogenetic comparison of DNA data showed that Reynoldsia was polyphyletic, consisting of two groups that are not each other's closest relatives. In a companion paper, three of the species were "sunk" into synonymy with others, reducing the number of species to five. All species that were formerly in Reynoldsia are now in Polyscias subgenus Tetraplasandra, a subgenus of 21 species indigenous to Malesia and the Pacific islands.

Tetraplasandra is a no longer recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. They are small to medium trees, of mesic to wet forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aralioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Aralioideae is a subfamily of flowering plants contains around 50 recognized genera. These include the genus Panax, to which ginseng belongs. Other notable species are the Angelica-tree, the devil's club, or common ivy.

<i>Rondeletia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Rondeletia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to the Neotropics. There are around 160 species.

<i>Rotheca</i> Genus of flowering plants

Rotheca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native to tropical Asia, with the rest occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. The type species for the genus is Rotheca serrata. It had originally been named Rotheca ternifolia, but this name is now considered illegitimate.

Platycarpha is a genus of South African plants within the family Asteraceae.

<i>Hymenodictyon</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hymenodictyon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 30 species. All are native to the Old World. The wood of Hymenodictyon orixense is soft and has limited use, mostly for boxes. The type species for Hymenodictyon is Hymenodictyon orixense.

<i>Grubbia</i> Genus of plants

Grubbia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Grubbiaceae. The genus has three species, all endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. They are shrubs that grow to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall, with tiny flowers and slender, leathery leaves. The fruit is a syncarp.

<i>Pseudomertensia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the borage family Boraginaceae

Pseudomertensia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. They are perennial herbs with blue or bluish purple flowers. Their natural range is from Iran to the Himalayas. None have been found in China or Russia. P. echioides, and the type species for the genus, P. elongata, are occasionally cultivated as ornamentals.

Raukaua gunnii is a species of plant in the family Araliaceae native to Tasmania. It was previously known as Pseudopanax gunnii, but was found not to be closely related to the core members of Pseudopanax.

References

  1. 1 2 David J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. ISBN   978-0-521-82071-4. (See External links below).
  2. Roderick J. Weston. 2004. Essential Oils of the Leaves of the Raukaua Genus (Araliaceae). Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung. Tubingen-Mainz, Series C (A Journal of Biosciences) volume 59,pages 35-38. (See External links below).
  3. 1 2 3 David G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. World Checklist and Bibliography of Araliaceae. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN   978-1-84246-048-1. (See External links below).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Anthony D. Mitchell, Rong Li, Joseph W. Brown, Ines Schönberger, and Jun Wen. 2012. Ancient divergence and biogeography of Raukaua (Araliaceae) and close relatives in the southern hemisphere. Australian Systematic Botany 25(6):432-446. doi : 10.1071/SB12020. (See External links below).
  5. Antoine N. Nicolas and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2009. The demise of subfamily Hydrocotyloideae (Apiaceae) and the realignment of its genera across the entire order Apiales. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53(1):134-151. doi : 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.06.010.
  6. 1 2 Patrick B. Heenan. 1998. The status of Raukaua edgerleyi var. serratus and R. x parvus comb. nov. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36(2):307-310. (See External links below).
  7. Raukaua In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
  8. Raukaua in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
  9. Berthold Carl Seemann. 1866. On the genus Raukana (sic). page 352. In: Revision of the natural order Hederaceae. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 4:352. (See External links below).
  10. 1 2 Anthony D. Mitchell, David G. Frodin, and Michael J. Heads. 1997. Reinstatement of Raukaua, a genus of the Araliaceae centred in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35(3):309-315. doi : 10.1080/0028825X.1997.10410156. (See External links below).
  11. Berthold Carl Seemann. 1868. page 142 In: Additions and Corrections to the Revision of Hederaceae, pages 140-142. In: Revision of the Natural Order Hederaceae, pages 129-142. In: Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, volume 6. (See External links below).
  12. David G. Frodin, Porter P. Lowry II, and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2010. Schefflera (Araliaceae): taxonomic history, overview, and progress. Plant Diversity and Evolution 128(3-4):561-595. doi : 10.1127/1869-6155/2010/0128-0028.
  13. Gregory M. Plunkett, Jun Wen, Porter P. Lowry II, Murray J. Henwood, Pedro Fiaschi, and Anthony D. Mitchell. accepted, undated. Araliaceae, pages ??. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor); ?? (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume ??. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN ??