Araliaceae

Araliaceae, commonly known as the aralia family, is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Apiales. The family comprises about 50 to 60 genera and more than 700 species. Members are mostly woody plants—trees, shrubs, and lianas—with a distribution that is tropical and subtropical worldwide and with notable diversity in East Asia and the Americas.

Leaves vary widely: alternate, and can be palmately compound or lobed; leaf morphology helps distinguish some genera. Flowers are small, arranged in umbels or panicles; five petals are typical, and many species have numerous stamens. Fruit is typically a drupe or berry.

Genera of economic and horticultural importance include Hedera (ivy), Panax (ginseng), Aralia, Schefflera, and Eleutherococcus. Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium have long histories in traditional medicine; Eleutherococcus species are used in traditional applications as well. Schefflera actinophylla and related ornamentals are widely cultivated for foliage displays. In the wild, Araliaceae members occupy a broad range of habitats from understory forests to tropical regions.

In systematic terms, Araliaceae sits within Apiales and is related to other families in the order. Molecular studies have influenced circumscription and generic boundaries, and the family exhibits considerable morphological diversity reflecting a long evolutionary history.