Schefflera J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.

Editorial Note

When Schefflera was prepared for New Trees its species count stood at 582 (Frodin et al. 2003), distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world (less well represented in Africa). Since New Trees was published in 2009, Schefflera has undergone a radical transformation, having been reduced to a remnant group of thirteen species with a tightly circumscribed distribution in New Zealand and the southwestern Pacific. This process was anticipated in New Trees, which – noting the proven polyphyly of Schefflera (five clades, broadly corresponding to geographical distribution) – foresaw that the Asian clade would eventually be transferred en masse to a new genus. The transfer was in due course effected by Lowry & Plunkett (2020) in a paper that reinstated the former Heptapleurum Gaertn. for the purpose, publishing 256 new combinations for 246 species and ten varieties. All five of the species treated under Schefflera in New Trees now belong to the resurrected Heptapleurum.

Besides Heptapleurum, the remaining constituent clades of Schefflera sensu lato have been referred to Plerandra (35 species in Melanesia), Astropanax and Neocussonia (together comprising 31 species in Africa and Madagascar), and the New World genera Cephalopanax, Crepinella, Didymopanax, Frodinia and Sciodaphyllum.

A few members of the much-reduced Schefflera are cultivated in our area, and accounts of these species will be provided when funding allows. If you would like to sponsor the work, please contact editor@treesandshrubsonline.org