Vasilis Teodoridis:
Araliaceae | Kalopanax
1. Kalopanax septemlobus (Thunberg) Koidzumi; Bot. Mag. (Tokyo). 39: 306. 1925.
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Acer septemlobum Thunberg in Murray; Syst. Veg.; ed. 14; 912. 1784; Acanthopanax ricinifolius (Siebold & Zuccarini) Seemann; A. ricinifolius var. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) C. K. Schneider; A. septemlobus (Thunberg) Koidzumi ex Rehder; A. septemlobus var. magnificus (Zabel) W. C. Cheng; A. septemlobus var. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) W. C. Cheng; Acer pic tum Thunberg; Aralia maximowiczii Van Houtte; Kalopanax pictus (Thunberg) Nakai; K. pictus var. magnificus (Zabel) Nakai; K. pictus f. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) H. Hara; K. pictus var. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) H. L. Li; K. ricinifolius (Siebold & Zuccarini) Miquel; K. ricinifolius var. chinensis Nakai; K. ricinifolius var. magnificus Zabel; K. ricinifolius var. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) Nakai; K. septemlobus var. magn ificus (Zabel) Handel-Mazzetti; K. septemlobus f. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) H. Ohashi; K. septemlobus var. maximowiczii (Van Houtte) Handel-Mazzetti; Panax ricinifolius Siebold & Zuccarini.
Trees; to 30 m tall. Trunk to ca. 1 m in diam.; branches stout; with numerous prickles. Petiole glabrous; 8-50 cm; leaf blade suborbicular; 9-25(-35) cm wide; papery; abaxially dark green and glabrous or nearly so; adaxially light green and usually slightly pubescent when young; 5-7-lobed; lobes broadly triangular-ovate to oblong-ovate; base cordate or rounded to nearly truncate; margin serrate; apex acuminate. Inflorescence 18-25 x 20-30 cm; peduncle 2-6 cm; umbels 1-2.5 cm in diam.; pedicels 5-10 mm; glabrous or slightly pubescent. Corolla white or yellowish green. Fruit dark blue at maturity; 3-5 mm in diam.; styles 2; united below; apical branches recurved. Fl. Jul-Aug; fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 48.
Forests; near sea level to 2500 m. Anhui; Fujian; Guangdong; Guangxi; Guizhou; Hebei; Henan; Hubei; Hunan; Jiangsu; Jiangxi; Liaoning; Shaanxi; Shandong; Shanxi; Sichuan; Yunnan; Zhejiang [Japan; Korea; Russia].
This species is used for timber; medicinal purposes; and as an ornamental.
Two varieties (Kalopanax septemlobus var. septemlobus and var. magnificus) have sometimes been distinguished on the basis of minor leaf characters; but they were not retained in the most recent authoritative treatment of the genus (Ohashi; J. Jap. Bot. 69: 28-31. 1994).