Raukaua | |
---|---|
Raukaua laetevirens | |
Scientific classification | |
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]
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]