View source for Fatsia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Old Fatsia japonica with blosems.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Fatsia japonica]]'' in flower
| taxon = Fatsia
| authority = [[Joseph Decaisne|Decne.]] & [[Jules Émile Planchon|Planch.]]
| subdivision_ranks  = Species
| subdivision = ''[[Fatsia japonica]]''<br/>
''[[Fatsia oligocarpella]]''<br/>
''[[Fatsia polycarpa]]''
| synonyms =
''Boninofatsia'' <small>[[Takenoshin Nakai|Nakai]]</small><br>
''Diplofatsia'' <small>[[Takenoshin Nakai|Nakai]]</small>
}}
'''''Fatsia''''' is a small [[genus]] of three species of [[evergreen]] [[shrub]]s in the family [[Araliaceae]] native to southern [[Japan]] and [[Taiwan]]. They typically have stout, sparsely branched stems bearing spirally-arranged, large leathery, palmately lobed [[leaf|leaves]] 20–50&nbsp;cm in width, on a [[petiole (botany)|petiole]] up to 50&nbsp;cm long, and small creamy-white [[flower]]s in dense terminal compound [[umbel]]s in late autumn or early winter, followed by small black [[fruit]].  The genus was formerly classified within a broader interpretation of the related genus ''[[Aralia]]''.
==Species==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name!! Description !!Distribution
|-
|[[File:Fatsia japonica.004 - Zapateira.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Fatsia japonica]]'' ||fatsi, Japanese aralia, glossy-leaved paper plant, false [[castor oil plant]], fig-leaf palm||  shrub growing to 3–6 m tall. The leaves have 7–9 broad lobes, divided to half or two-thirds of the way to the base of the leaf; the lobes are edged with coarse, blunt teeth.||southern Japan and southern Korea.
|-
| ||''[[Fatsia oligocarpella]]''|| || differs in the lobes on the leaves being less coarsely toothed, but is otherwise very similar.||From the [[Bonin Islands]]. It is [[naturalised]] in [[Hawaii]].
|-
|[[File:Fatsia polycarpa Hayata (WilsonKao) 多室八角金盘 001.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Fatsia polycarpa]]''|| || The leaves have 9–13 deep, narrow lobes, divided nearly to the base of the leaf. Some authors treat it in a separate genus, as ''Diplofatsia polycarpa''.||Native to [[Taiwan]]'s mountainous areas.
|-
|}
A sterile [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between ''Fatsia japonica'' and ''[[Hedera hibernica]]'', named [[× Fatshedera lizei|× ''Fatshedera lizei'']], has been produced in cultivation in [[western Europe]] in both plain green and variegated forms.
Some species formerly included in ''Fatsia'' are now classified in other genera.  ''Fatsia papyrifera'' is now ''[[Tetrapanax papyrifer]]'' and ''Fatsia horrida'' is now ''[[Oplopanax horridus]]''.
<gallery>
Image:Fatsia japonica leaf.jpg|A small ''Fatsia japonica'' leaf
Image:Fatsia japonica1.jpg|Close-up of flower [[umbel]]
Image:Fatsia in Natchez, MS IMG_6970.JPG|Fatsia, Japanese aralia at [[Rosalie Mansion]] in [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], [[Mississippi]]
</gallery>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.alternativeeden.com/2010/12/focus-on-fatsia.html Photos of various ''Fatsia'' forms and species for comparison]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1763723}}
[[Category:Fatsia| ]]
[[Category:Apiales genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Jules Émile Planchon]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne]]