Fatsia japonica

Fatsia japonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Araliaceae
Genus:	Fatsia
Species:	F. japonica
Binomial name
Fatsia japonica (Thunb.) Decne. & Planch.

Fatsia japonica (Fatsi or Japanese Aralia; syn. Aralia japonica Thunb., A. sieboldii Hort. ex K.Koch) is a species of Fatsia, native to southern Japan.

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 3-6 m tall, with stout, sparsely branched stems. The leaves are spirally-arranged, large, 20-50 cm in width and on a petiole up to 50 cm long, leathery, palmately lobed, with 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. The flowers are small, white, borne in dense terminal compound umbels in late autumn or early winter, followed by small black fruit.

The name "Fatsi" is an approximation of the old Japanese word for 'eight' (hachi in modern Japanese), referring to the eight lobes. The name "Japanese Aralia" is due to the genus formerly being classified within a broader interpretation of the related genus Aralia in the past.

Cultivation and uses

It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant in warm temperate regions where winters do not fall below about -15°C. In Japan it is known as Yatsuba meaning eight fingers.

• 
  Fruiting body
• 
  A small Fatsia japonica leaf
• 
  Close-up of flower umbel

References

• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.
• BBC Gardening: Fatsia japonica