Tetrapanax
| Tetrapanax | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Aralioideae |
| Genus: | Tetrapanax (K.Koch) K.Koch |
| Species: | T. papyrifer |
| Binomial name | |
| Tetrapanax papyrifer | |
Tetrapanax papyrifer, the rice paper plant (通草—tong cao), is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Araliaceae, the sole species in the genus Tetrapanax. The specific epithet is frequently misspelled as "papyriferum", "papyriferus", or "papyrifera". It is native to eastern and central China and Taiwan, but widely cultivated in East Asia and in other tropical to mild temperate regions as well.
The species was first described in the genus Aralia as Aralia papyrifera, and has also been treated in Fatsia as Fatsia papyrifera.
A second species, Tetrapanax tibetanus, is now regarded as a synonym of Merrilliopanax alpinus.