Schefflera

Schefflera /ˈʃɛflərə/[1] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. With an estimated 600–900 species, the genus represents about half of its family. The plants are trees, shrubs or lianas, growing 4–20 metres (13–66 ft) tall, with woody stems, the absence of articulated pedicels and armaments, and palmately compound leaves.

Schefflera
Cultivated Schefflera arboricola in Pretoria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Subfamily: Aralioideae
Genus: Schefflera
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (1775)
Diversity
c. 600 species

Several species are grown in pots as houseplants, most commonly Schefflera actinophylla (umbrella tree) and Schefflera arboricola (dwarf umbrella tree). Numerous cultivars have been selected for various characters, most popularly for variegated or purple foliage. Schefflera species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidopteran species including Batrachedra arenosella (recorded on S. stellata). Schefflera arboricola and Schefflera actinophylla can be used to attract birds.[2]

The genus is named in honor of Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler (born in 1739), physician and botanist of Gdańsk, and later of Warsaw, who contributed plants to Gottfried Reyger for Reygers book, 'Tentamen Florae Gedanensis'.[3][4][5]

Fossil record

Two fossil fruits of †Schefflera dorofeevii have been extracted from bore hole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.[6]

Systematics

The circumscription of the genus has varied greatly. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the widely used broad circumscription as a pantropical genus is polyphyletic, but it remains to be seen how this will affect the classification of the genus.[7][8] 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.[9] These clades are to be split into separate genera, primarily along geographical lines, with Schefflera in the strict sense to consist of eight species restricted to the Pacific islands.[10][11][12]

Species

See: List of Schefflera species

Taxonomy
Schefflera venulosa, details of inflorescence
Schefflera gabriellae – wood

The genus has had a turbulent taxonomic history; the list of synonyms includes:

Young leaves of a Schefflera sp. in India.

The list of former synonyms includes:

References
  1. Western Garden Book (6th ed.). Sunset Pub Co. 1995. pp. 606–607. ISBN 978-0-376-03850-0.
  2. Johan Dalgas Frisch; Christian Dalgas Frisch (2005). Aves Brasileiras e Plantas que as atraem. São Paulo: Dalgas Ecotec. ISBN 85-85015-07-1.
  3. Forster. J.R. and Forster, G. Characteres Generum Plantarum. 1776
  4. Reyger, G. Tentamen Florae Gedanensis. vol. 2. 1766
  5. Schumann, E., ed. (1893). "Die einheimisclien Mitglieder der Gesellschaft, Lebensläufe". Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig. 8 (2): 83.
  6. Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3–117.
  7. G. M. Plunkett; Porter P. Lowry II; D. G. Frodin & Jun Wen (2005). "Phylogeny and geography of Schefflera: pervasive polyphyly in the largest genus of Araliaceae". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 92 (2): 202–224. JSTOR 3298514.
  8. Pedro Fiaschi & Gregory M. Plunkett (2011). "Monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of Neotropical Schefflera (Araliaceae) based on plastid and nuclear markers". Systematic Botany. 36 (3): 806–817. doi:10.1600/036364411X583754.
  9. Plunkett, Gregory M; Lowry, Porter P; Frodin, David G; Wen, Jun (2005). "Phylogeny and geography of Schefflera: Pervasive polyphyly in the largest genus of Araliaceae". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 92 (2): 202–224.
  10. Lowry, Porter P.; Plunkett, Gregory M.; Gostel, Morgan R.; Frodin, David G. (June 2017). "A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in Schefflera (Araliaceae): resurrection of the genera Astropanax and Neocussonia". Candollea. 72 (2): 265–282. doi:10.15553/c2017v722a4. ISSN 0373-2967.
  11. Plunkett, Gregory M.; Lowry, Porter P.; Fiaschi, Pedro; Frodin, David G.; Nicolas, Antoine N. (2019). "Phylogeny, biogeography, and morphological evolution among and within the Neotropical and Asian clades of Schefflera (Araliaceae)". Taxon. 68 (6): 1278–1313. doi:10.1002/tax.12177. ISSN 1996-8175.
  12. Ii, Porter P. Lowry; Plunkett, Gregory M.; Neill, David A. (2019-11-22). "Studies in Neotropical Araliaceae. II. Resurrection of the Neotropical Genus Crepinella for a Clade of New World Species Previously Included in Schefflera (Araliaceae)". Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature. 27 (4): 253–261. doi:10.3417/2019510. ISSN 1945-6174.
  13. Lowry, P.P., II; Plunkett, G.M.; Frodin, D.G. (2013). "Revision of Plerandra (Araliaceae). I. A synopsis of the genus with an expanded circumscription and a new infrageneric classification". Brittonia. 65 (1): 42–61. doi:10.1007/s12228-012-9260-2.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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