{{Short description|Genus of plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Schefflera digitata 258334362.jpg | image_caption = ''Schefflera digitata'' | taxon = Schefflera | authority = J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (1775) | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = | diversity = 13 species | diversity_link = }}
'''''Schefflera''''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|ɛ|f|l|ər|ə}}<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-0-376-03850-0 |title=Western Garden Book |url=https://archive.org/details/sunsetwesterngar00suns|url-access=registration |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sunsetwesterngar00suns/page/606 606–607] |edition=6th |publisher=Sunset Pub Co}}</ref> is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands.<ref name="POWO_3093-1" >{{cite POWO |id=3093-1 |title=''Schefflera'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |access-date=8 January 2023 }}</ref>
The genus is named in honor of {{Interlanguage link|Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler|de}}, physician and botanist of Gdańsk, and later of Warsaw, who contributed plants to {{Interlanguage link|Gottfried Reyger|de}} for Reyger's book, ''Tentamen Florae Gedanensis''.<ref>Forster. J.R. and Forster, G. ''Characteres Generum Plantarum'' [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/23365#page/61/mode/1up (page)]. 1776</ref><ref>Reyger, G. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98179#page/448/mode/1up Tentamen Florae Gedanensis]. vol. 2. 1766</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14611923 |journal=Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=83 |year=1893 |editor=Schumann, E. |title=Die einheimisclien Mitglieder der Gesellschaft, Lebensläufe}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The circumscription of the genus has varied greatly. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the widely used broad circumscription was polyphyletic, so most of its hundreds of species have been reassigned to other genera.<ref>{{cite journal |author=G. M. Plunkett |author2=Porter P. Lowry II |author3=D. G. Frodin |author4=Jun Wen|name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Phylogeny and geography of ''Schefflera'': pervasive polyphyly in the largest genus of Araliaceae |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=202–224 |jstor=3298514}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pedro Fiaschi |author2=Gregory M. Plunkett|name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of Neotropical ''Schefflera'' (Araliaceae) based on plastid and nuclear markers |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=806–817 |doi=10.1600/036364411X583754 |s2cid=85944746}}</ref> Molecular analyses have recovered five polyphyletic clades of ''Schefflera'', all of which are geographically isolated from one another yet share similar traits indicating parallel evolution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Plunkett |first1=Gregory M |last2=Lowry |first2=Porter P |last3=Frodin |first3=David G |last4=Wen |first4=Jun |date=2005 |title=Phylogeny and geography of ''Schefflera'': Pervasive polyphyly in the largest genus of Araliaceae |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=202–224}}</ref> These clades have been split into separate genera, primarily along geographical lines, with ''Schefflera'' now consisting of thirteen species restricted to New Zealand and some Pacific islands.<ref name=Lowry2017>{{Cite journal |last1=Lowry |first1=Porter P. |last2=Plunkett |first2=Gregory M. |last3=Gostel |first3=Morgan R. |last4=Frodin |first4=David G. |date=June 2017 |title=A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in ''Schefflera'' (Araliaceae): resurrection of the genera ''Astropanax'' and ''Neocussonia'' |url=https://zenodo.org/record/7182886 |journal=Candollea |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=265–282 |doi=10.15553/c2017v722a4 |s2cid=90636101 |issn=0373-2967}}</ref><ref name=Plunkett2019>{{Cite journal |last1=Plunkett |first1=Gregory M. |last2=Lowry |first2=Porter P. |last3=Fiaschi |first3=Pedro |last4=Frodin |first4=David G. |last5=Nicolas |first5=Antoine N. |date=2019 |title=Phylogeny, biogeography, and morphological evolution among and within the Neotropical and Asian clades of ''Schefflera'' (Araliaceae) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tax.12177 |journal=Taxon |language=en |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=1278–1313 |doi=10.1002/tax.12177 |s2cid=214109057 |issn=1996-8175|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=Ii2019>{{Cite journal |last1=Ii |first1=Porter P. Lowry |last2=Plunkett |first2=Gregory M. |last3=Neill |first3=David A. |date=2019-11-22 |title=Studies in Neotropical Araliaceae. II. Resurrection of the Neotropical Genus ''Crepinella'' for a Clade of New World Species Previously Included in ''Schefflera'' (Araliaceae) |url=https://novon.mobot.org/index.php/novon/article/view/510 |journal=Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature |language=en |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=253–261 |doi=10.3417/2019510 |s2cid=210157464 |issn=1945-6174|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The houseplant popularly known as "Schefflera" is now ''Heptapleurum arboricola''.
The old ''Didymopanax'' <small>Decne. & Planch., 1854</small> genus was resurrected in 2020 to welcome the 37 American species of ''Schefflera'' <small>J.R. et G. Forst.</small>.<ref name="FIASCHI 2020">{{cite journal |language=en |journal=Brittonia |title=Studies in Neotropical Araliaceae. III. Resurrection of the New World genus ''Didymopanax'' Decne. & Planch., previously included in ''Schefflera'' (Araliaceae) |author=Pedro FIASCHI |author2=Porter P. LOWRY |author3=Gregory M. PLUNKETT |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12228-019-09604-w.pdf |year=2020 |pages=16Y22 (1–7) |doi=10.1007/s12228-019-09604-w |volume=72 |issue=1 |bibcode=2020Britt..72...16F |s2cid=210864937 |issn=0007-196X}}</ref>
The genus has had a turbulent taxonomic history; the list of former synonyms includes: {{div col|colwidth=266px}} *''Actinomorphe'' {{small|(Miq.) Miq.}} *''Actinophyllum'' {{small|Ruiz & Pav.}} *''Agalma'' {{small|Miq.}} *''Astropanax'' {{small|Seem.}}<ref name=Lowry2017/> *''Brassaia'' {{small|Endl.}} *''Cephaloschefflera'' {{small|(Harms) Merr.}} *''Crepinella'' {{small|Marchal}}<ref name=Ii2019/> *''Didymopanax'' {{small|Decne. & Planch.}}<ref name="FIASCHI 2020" /> *''Geopanax'' {{small|Hemsl.}} *''Heptapleurum'' {{small|Gaertn.}} *''Neocussonia'' {{small|Hutch.}}<ref name=Lowry2017/> *''Nesopanax'' {{small|Seem.}} *''Parapanax'' {{small|Miq.}} *''Paratropia'' {{small|(Blume) DC.}} *''Plerandra'' {{small|A.Gray}} *''Sciadophyllum'' {{small|P.Browne}} *''Tupidanthus'' {{small|Hook.f. & Thomson}} {{div col end}}
==Species== 13 species are currently accepted:<ref>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:3093-1 ''Schefflera'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.] ''Plants of the World Online''. Accessed 16 April 2023.</ref> *''Schefflera balansana'' {{small|Baill.}} – New Caledonia *''Schefflera candelabrum'' {{small|Baill.}} – New Caledonia *''Schefflera coenosa'' {{small|(R.Vig.) Frodin}} – southeastern New Caledonia, including Isle of Pines *''Schefflera digitata'' {{small|J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.}} – New Zealand *''Schefflera euthytricha'' {{small|A.C.Sm.}} – Fiji *''Schefflera kerchoveiana'' {{small|(Veitch ex W.Richards) Frodin & Lowry}} – Vanuatu *''Schefflera leratii'' {{small|R.Vig.}} – New Caledonia *''Schefflera neoebudica'' {{small|Guillaumin}} – Vanuatu *''Schefflera ouveana'' {{small|(Däniker) Frodin}} – New Caledonia (Loyalty Islands) *''Schefflera pseudocandelabrum'' {{small|R.Vig.}} – New Caledonia *''Schefflera samoensis'' {{small|(A.Gray) Harms}} – Samoa *''Schefflera vieillardii'' {{small|Baill.}} – New Caledonia *''Schefflera vitiensis'' {{small|(A.Gray) Seem.}} – Fiji
==Fossil record== Two fossil fruits of †''Schefflera dorofeevii'' have been extracted from bore hole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.<ref>Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3–117.</ref>
==See also== *''Astropanax'' *''Crepinella'' *''Didymopanax'' *''Heptapleurum'' *''Neocussonia'' *''Plerandra'' *''Sciadophyllum''
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q133351}}
Category:Schefflera Category:Apiales genera