Pseudopanax

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title: "Pseudopanax" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pseudopanax", "apiales-genera", "endemic-flora-of-new-zealand", "taxa-named-by-karl-koch"] description: "Genus of plants" topic_path: "geography/new-zealand" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopanax" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of plants ::

|image = Pseudopanax-lessonii-005.jpg |image_caption = Pseudopanax lessonii |taxon = Pseudopanax |authority = K.Koch |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision =

• Pseudopanax chathamicus Kirk
• Pseudopanax crassifolius (Sol. ex A.Cunn.) K.Koch
• Pseudopanax discolor (Kirk) Harms
• Pseudopanax ferox Kirk
• Pseudopanax gilliesii Kirk
• Pseudopanax lessonii (DC.) K.Koch
• Pseudopanax linearis (Hook.f.) auct. |synonyms = |synonyms_ref =

Pseudopanax (Latin for "false ginseng") is a genus of seven species of evergreen plants that are endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

A 2000 molecular study established that several species within the genus were only distantly related to the core group of New Zealand species related the type species P. crassifolius. They were removed to the genus Raukaua.

Distribution and habitat

Pseudopanax occur in forest or scrub environments. The genus contains some remarkable small trees with distinctly different juvenile and adult forms, such as Pseudopanax crassifolius (lancewood) and Pseudopanax ferox (toothed lancewood).

Cultivation

Many of the species are popular in New Zealand gardens, but are rather rare in cultivation elsewhere, requiring mild, moist conditions similar to those in New Zealand, without extremes of temperature in winter and summer. They reportedly grow well in Southern California and warmer parts of Great Britain. A number of cultivars have been developed, mostly of Pseudopanax lessonii. These include 'Gold Splash', which has yellow variegated leaves, and 'Nigra' which has dark purple-brown foliage. A National Trust listed specimen of Pseudopanax crassifolius exists on the Alton property at Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia, which is 21 metres high and has an 11.5 m spread. Its age is estimated at 100 years.

Host plant

In New Zealand various species in this genus are the host plant for the larvae of Scolopterus penicillatus, a common endemic weevil. The larvae develop in recently dead bark.

References

References

1. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:3086-1 ''Pseudopanax'' K.Koch]. ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
2. Salmon, J. T.. (1986). "The Native Trees of New Zealand". Reed Methuen.
3. . (n.d.). ["Pseudopanax K. Koch"](https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/8W2TD). *Species 2000*.
4. (2000). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the Chilean ''Pseudopanax laetevirens''". New Zealand Journal of Botany.
5. "Pseudopanax crassifolius".
6. (1993). "Larvae of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera): a systematic overview". Fauna of New Zealand.

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