Trochodendron aralioides

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Trochodendron aralioides
Trochodendron aralioides 09072.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Trochodendrales
Family: Trochodendraceae
Genus: Trochodendron
Species:
T. aralioides
Binomial name
Trochodendron aralioides

Trochodendron aralioides, sometimes colloquially called wheel tree, is a flowering plant and the sole living species in the genus Trochodendron , which also includes several extinct species. It was also often considered the sole species in the family Trochodendraceae, though botanists now include the distinct genus Tetracentron in the same family. T. aralioides is native to Japan, southern Korea and Taiwan. Growing in lower temperate montane mixed forests in Japan, and broad-leaved evergreen forest in the central mountain ranges and Northern parts of Taiwan. [1]

Contents

Description

It is an evergreen tree or large shrub growing to 20 m tall. The leaves are borne in tight spirals at the apex of the year's growth, each leaf leathery dark green, simple broad lanceolate, 6–14 cm long and 3–8 cm broad, with a crenate margin. The flowers are produced 10–20 together in a racemose cyme 5–13 cm diameter; each flower is 15–18 mm diameter, yellowish green, without petals, but with a conspicuous ring of 40–70 stamens surrounding the 4–11 carpels. The fruit is 2 cm diameter, woody, star-shaped, composed of 4–11 follicles, each follicle containing several seeds.

Genetics

Trochodendron aralioides shares with Tetracentron the very unusual feature in angiosperms, of lacking vessel elements in its wood. [2] This has long been considered a very primitive character, resulting in the classification of these two genera in a basal position in the angiosperms; however, genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown it to be in a less basal position (early in the eudicots), suggesting the absence of vessel elements is a secondarily evolved character, not a primitive one. [3]

From sequencing the chromosome scale (19 chromosomes and 1.614 Gb in size) genome of the species it was seen that the divergence time between T. aralioides and its common ancestor with the core eudicots was ~124.2 Mya. [4]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxales</span> Order of eudicot flowering plants

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<i>Trochodendron</i> Genus of flowing plants in the family Trochodendraceae

Trochodendron is a genus of flowering plants with one living species, Trochodendron aralioides, and six extinct species known from the fossil record. It was often considered the sole genus in the family Trochodendraceae, though botanists now also include the distinct genus Tetracentron in the family.

<i>Tetracentron</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Trochodendraceae

Tetracentron is a genus of flowering plant with a sole living species being Tetracentron sinense and several extinct species. It was formerly considered the sole genus in the family Tetracentraceae, though it is now included in the family Trochodendraceae together with the genus Trochodendron.

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<i>Trochodendron nastae</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Trochodendron nastae is an extinct species of flowering plant in the family Trochodendraceae known from fossil leaves found in the early Eocene Ypresian stage Klondike Mountain Formation deposits of northern Washington state. T. nastae is one of the oldest members of the genus Trochodendron, which includes the living species T. aralioides, native to Japan, southern Korea and Taiwan and the coeval extinct species T. drachukii from the McAbee Fossil Beds near Cache Creek, British Columbia.

Trochodendron drachukii is an extinct species of flowering plants in the family Trochodendraceae known from a fossil fruiting structure found in the early Ypresian age Eocene fossils found in British Columbia, Canada. T. drachukii is one of the oldest members of the genus Trochodendron, which includes the living species T. aralioides, native to Japan, southern Korea and Taiwan and the coeval extinct species T. nastae from Washington state, United States.

<i>Pentacentron</i> Extinct genus of Trochodendralean plant

Pentacentron is an extinct genus of flowering plant in the family Trochodendraceae, consisting of the single species Pentacentron sternhartae. The genus is known from fossil fruits found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States. P. sternhartae are possibly the fruits belonging to the extinct trochodendraceous leaves Tetracentron hopkinsii.

<i>Tetracentron hopkinsii</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Tetracentron hopkinsii is an extinct species of flowering plant in the family Trochodendraceae. The species is known from fossil leaves found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States and south Central British Columbia. The species was first described from fossil leaves found in the Allenby Formation. T. hopkinsii are possibly the leaves belonging to the extinct trochodendraceous fruits Pentacentron sternhartae.

Paraconcavistylon is an extinct genus of flowering plant in the family Trochodendraceae comprises a single species, Paraconcavistylon wehrii. The genus is known from fossil fruits and leaves found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and southern British Columbia, Canada. The species was initially described as a member of the related extinct genus Concavistylon as "Concavistylon" wehrii, but subsequently moved to the new genus Paraconcavistylon in 2020 after additional study.

References

  1. Lin, Cheng-Tao; Chiu, Ching-An (January 2019). "The relic Trochodendron aralioides Siebold & Zucc. (Trochodendraceae) in Taiwan: Ensemble distribution modeling and climate change Impacts". Forests. 10 (1): 7. doi: 10.3390/f10010007 .
  2. Li, Hong-Fang; Chaw, Shu-Miaw; Du, Chun-Mei; Ren, Yi (2011-06-01). "Vessel elements present in the secondary xylem of Trochodendron and Tetracentron (Trochodendraceae)". Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants. 206 (6): 595–600. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2010.11.018. ISSN   0367-2530.
  3. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009-10-01). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x . hdl: 10654/18083 . ISSN   0024-4074.
  4. Strijk, Joeri S.; Hinsinger, Damien D.; Zhang, Fengping; Cao, Kunfang (2019-11-01). "Trochodendron aralioides, the first chromosome-level draft genome in Trochodendrales and a valuable resource for basal eudicot research". GigaScience. 8 (11): giz136. doi:10.1093/gigascience/giz136. PMC   6859433 . PMID   31738437.