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Polyscias

J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (1776)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Asterids Order: Apiales Family: Araliaceae Genus: Polyscias

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees or shrubs, secretory canals present in most parts.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound (pinnate). Alternate. Leaflets (3–)5–21, membranous to coriaceous. Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces glabrous to scurfy stellate pubescent. Leaflet margins lobed or toothed, occasionally nearly entire or entire, often undulate. Petioles base often broad, clasping or sheathing the stem. Stipules absent or rudimentary.

Flowers: Flowers in terminal (appearing lateral), paniculate–racemose or compound–umbellate inflorescences, the ultimate units umbellules or racemules. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or staminate, actinomorphic; stellate-furfuraceous throughout; pedicels up to ca. 250 per inflorescence, spreading, not jointed. Calyx a truncate rim, entire to irregularly undulate, often with 5–9 minute teeth. Corolla of 5–20 petals; petals valvate, caducous, variously connate at anthesis in groups of 2–4(5) to form 5–7 strongly reflexed, basally connate "petals". Stamens as many as and alternate with the petals, or 2–8 times as many in 1–2 whorls. Ovary inferior, (6–)8–24-carpellate, surmounted by a truncate to low-conical disk; styles as many as carpels, connate, embedded in the disk at anthesis, maturing into a hollow, conical stylopodium 1–3 mm high, crowned by a rim of stigmatic bulges.

Fruit: Drupes globose or globose–urceolate to ovoid or cylindrical; rounded to angular or compressed incross section; pyrenes ovoid to laterally compressed; as many as carpels. Seeds 1 per pyrene; with a small embryo and fleshy endosperm.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

CULTURE

  • [I] He iki nioi no Paka‘alana. A small nioi of Paka‘alana. A small but very powerful person. The nioi, the ‘ohe, and the kauila were kinds of trees entered by the poison gods Kaneikaulana‘ula and Kahuilaokalani, and Kapo, a goddess, at Maunaloa, Moloka‘i. The trees were later cut down and made into images. [II] Ka nioi wela o Paka‘alana. The burning nioi of Paka‘alana. Refers to the heiau of Paka‘alana in Waipi‘o, Hawai‘i. The timber used about the doorway was of pioi wood. According to ancient legend, the nioi, ‘ohe, and kauila trees of Moloka‘i are said to be possessed by poison gods and are regarded as having mana. To tamper with the trees or the wood, especially in places of worship, is to invite serious trouble.

Natural History

Island Status

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Notes

  • An endemic, monotypic genus first established by Sherff (1952b). Munroidendron is derived from withinPolyscias
  • As defined by Philipson (1970), Tetraplasandra, with 6 species resulting from a single introduction, is endemic to Hawai‘i.
  • Description digitized by Pumehana Imada
  • Wood soft, whitish, with prominent resin ducts. A genus of 6 species with 2 each in Samoa and Marquesas and one in the Society Islands, in addition to Reynoldsia sandwicensis in Hawai‘i. Reynoldsia is part of a closely related complex of genera tha

Bibliography

Name Published In: Char. Gen. Pl.: 63 (1776)

Other References

Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, Vols. 1 and 2 (No. Edn 2). University of Hawai'i and Bishop Museum Press.

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Scientific Name Authorship Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
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