Volume 14 > Part 2 > Year 2019 > Page 220 > Araliaceae > Panax

1. Panax pseudoginseng Wall.wfo-0000263687

Trans. Med. Phys. Soc. Calcutt. 4: 117. 1829; Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 30, t. 137. 1831; Numer. List: 3730. 1831; C.A.Meyer, Bull. Phys.-Math. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. 1: 340. 1843; Seem., J. Bot. 6: 54. 1868; R.Vig. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 2(9): 1163. 1923; H.L.Li, Sargentia 2: 117. 1942; Hara, J. Jap. Bot. 45: 208. 1970; G.Hoo & C.J.Tseng, Fl. Reipubl. Popul. Sin. 54: 181, pl. 22. 1978; Grierson, Fl. Bhutan 2.1: 340, fig. 41 a & b. 1991; P.H.Hô, Câyco Viêtnam 2, 2: 641, pl. 5455. 1993; Frodin & J.Wen in Frodin & Govaerts, World Checkl. Bibliogr. Araliac.: 267. 2004 (‘2003’); C.B.Shang & Lowry, Fl. China 13: 491. 2007.— Aralia pseudo-ginseng (Wall.) Benth. ex C.B.Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 721. 1879; Craib, Fl. Siam. 1: 794. 1931.— Aralia quinquefolia var. pseudo-ginseng (Wall.) Burkill, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1902: 7. 1902.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Herbs with a stem to 35 cm tall, rhizome short (ca 4 cm long), curved with vertical apex, root thick and fleshy. Leaves in a whorl of 3–5; leaflets 6–9, membranous, margin densely serrate, venation distinct on both sides. Inflorescence borne on a peduncle about the same length as the stem (ca 21 cm), arising from amongst the whorl of leaves; umbel ca 20–25 mm in diam., with numerous (100 or more) flowers. Flowers: pedicel 8–10 mm long; calyx ca 1 mm long; petals ca 1 by 0.75 mm; styles ca 1 mm long, free or united, with short divergent tips only. Fruits with 2–3 large seeds, ca 8–9 by 6–8 mm, red.

Distribution : ?Bhutan, NE India, Nepal (type), Myanmar, ?Indochina, ?China (see note). 3 or more varieties, one of them in Thailand.

Ecology : In China it occurs in mixed forests at 1,000–3,000 m alt. but is also planted.

Uses: The dried and pounded roots (San-ch’i) are used externally and internally in Chinese traditional medicine to relieve pain, reduce swellings and stop bleeding, basically because of their saponine content.

Notes: 1. Although Panax schin-seng has often been considered as synonym of P. ginseng C.A.Meyer, its protologue cited P. pseudo-ginseng as synonym under the species as well as under var. nepalensis.

2. Panax is a taxonomically difficult genus. According to recent research by J. Wen, P. pseudo-ginseng has been circumscribed too widely in the past, being in fact endemic to Nepal. The single Thai taxon is then perhaps referable to P. wangianus S.C.Sun, Icon. Pl. Omeiensium 2: 194. 1946.— Panax pseudoginseng var. wangianus (S.C.Sun) G.Hoo & C.J.Tseng, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 11: 436. 1973. This is a basically Chinese taxon, differing from P. pseudoginseng in a different rootstock and ecology (being a lowland species). Frodin & Wen (2004 [‘2003’]) considered P. wangianus as endemic for China, and cited the var. angustifolius, to which the Thai plants have been referred to repeatedly, as synonym of P. bipinnatifidus Seem.