27. Aralia cordata Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 127. 1784.
食用土当归 shi yong tu dang gui
Aralia taiwaniana Y. C. Liu & F. Y. Lu.
Herbs, perennial, 0.5-3 m tall. Stem stout, with elongate, cylindric rhizome. Leaves 2- or 3-pinnately compound; petiole 15-30 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; petiolules to 2.5 cm (terminal one to 5 cm); leaflets 3-5 per pinna, narrowly ovate to oblong-ovate, 4-15 × 3-9 cm, membranous to subleathery, abaxially sparsely pubescent on veins, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 6-8 pairs, tertiary veins distinct abaxially, inconspicuous adaxially, base rounded to cordate, margin coarsely serrate, apex acute. Inflorescence a lax terminal or axillary few branched panicle of umbels; primary axis longer than 10 cm; bracts linear, 3-5 mm; umbels racemosely arranged, few- to many flowered; pedicels 1-1.2 cm, filiform, pubescent. Ovary 5-carpellate; styles 5, free. Fruit globose, ca. 3 mm in diam.; styles persistent, ca. 2 mm. 2n = 24*, 48*.
● Shaded places in forests, grasslands on slopes; 1300-1600 m. Anhui (Huang Shan), Fujian (Chong’an), Guangxi (Longsheng, Ziyuan), Hubei (Enshi, Xuan’en), Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang.
This species is used medicinally and as a vegetable.