Seemannaralia
Genus of flowering plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seemannaralia gerrardii, commonly known as the wild-maple or mock carrot tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. It is the sole member of genus Seemannaralia, and is endemic to South Africa, where it occurs in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.[2] It was originally included in genus Cussonia. Seemann- and gerrardii commemorate Berthold Seemann and William Gerrard respectively, while -aralia suggests the family or its type genus, Aralia.[3]
| Wild-maple | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Aralioideae |
| Genus: | Seemannaralia R.Vig. |
| Species: | S. gerrardii |
| Binomial name | |
| Seemannaralia gerrardii | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Description
A short squat tree of open rocky situations, or a tall tree of forest and forest edge.[3] The rough grey bark is deeply cracked. As with genus Cussonia the leaves are clustered at the ends of branches. The leaf shape is characteristic: maple-like, palmate and 3 to 7 lobed.[3] Leaves turn yellow in autumn.
Flowers and fruit
The small, yellowish green flowers are produced in autumn,[3] in axillary and terminal panicles of umbels.[4] The oval flower petals have an intricate estivation.[5] The superior ovary is 1[6] or 2-locular,[4] and much compressed laterally.[5] The purplish drupes appear in winter. They are of a flattened, elliptic shape, with lateral veins.[3]
Gallery
Panicle of flower umbels
Close-up of two flower umbels
