Japanese Angelica Tree (redirected from Aralia elata)

Japanese Angelica Tree 

(Aralia mandshurica), a tree of the family Araliaceae. The erect unbranched or slightly branched spiny trunk reaches 12 m in height and 15–20 cm in diameter. The alternate leaves reach 1 m in length and are usually concentrated near the top of the trunk; they are twice or thrice pinnate, with sparse spines on the petioles and main veins. The small white flowers are five-parted and bisexual or staminate; they are gathered in numerous umbels, which in turn form compound inflorescences, measuring as much as 50 cm in length, on the top of the trunk and branches. The fruits are baccate and small.

The Japanese angelica tree grows in the Primor’e and in the southern Amur region. Outside the USSR it is found in Northeast China and Korea. The tree occurs in deciduous and mixed forests, on forest margins, and in burned-out and felled forests. In some places it forms impenetrable thorny thickets. A rapidly growing tree, the Japanese angelica tree is used as an ornamental for solitary and group plantings and for hedges. It has medicinal properties: an infusion of the roots is used as a stimulant. The closely related species A. elata grows on southern Sakhalin and in the southern Kurils.

REFERENCE

Usenko, N. V. Derev’ia, kustarniki i liany Dal’nego Vostoka. Khabarovsk, 1969.