Brassaiopsis hainla (Buch.-Ham.) Seem.

Trees, to 15 m tall, hermaphroditic. Branches with conic prickles. Leaves simple, 5-7-lobed; petiole 15-25 cm, tomentose at first, glabrescent; stipules small or absent, ovate to ovate-deltoid; blade 17-35 cm wide, papery, lobes divided less than 1/2 way to base, broadly ovate-triangular to nearly rounded, abaxially stellate pubescent, glabrescent, adaxially tomentose, veins conspicuous on both surfaces, base broadly convex, margin sharply dentate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence terminal, apparently erect to ascending, densely tomentose, glabrescent after anthesis, with scattered prickles; primary axis to ca. 30 cm; secondary axes to 10(-13) cm; peduncles 1.5-2 cm; umbels 2.5-3.5 cm in diam.; pedicels 0.8-1 cm. Ovary 2-carpellate. Fruit subglobose, ca. 8 mm in diam.; styles persistent, ca. 2.5 mm. Fl. Dec-Mar, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 48.

E. Himalaya (Nepal to Assam), S.W. China (Yunnan).

Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand].

Himalaya (Nepal to Assam), Burma.

1000-1800 m

1900-2100 m

Forests in valleys; 1300-2100 m.

Hedera hainla Buchanan-Hamilton in D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 187. 1825; Brassaiopsis polyacantha (Wallich) R. N. Banerjee; H. polyacantha Wallich; Pseudobrassaiopsis hainla (Buchanan-Hamilton) R. N. Banerjee; P. polyacantha (Wallich) R. N. Banerjee.

Flowering from December to March; fruiting from June to August.

Brassaiopsis hainla is occurring in Yunnan of China, Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand.

The phylogeny of Brassaiopsis has been inferred using the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) and 5S nontranscribed spacer (5S-NTS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (Mitchell and Wen, 2005). The analysis of phylogeny suggests Brassaiopsis hainla, B. aculeata, and B. glomerulata form a clade.

Trees, to 15 m tall, hermaphroditic. Branches with conic prickles. Leaves simple, 5-7-lobed; petiole 15-25 cm, tomentose at first, glabrescent; stipules small or absent, ovate to ovate-deltoid; blade 17-35 cm wide, papery, lobes divided less than 1/2 way to base, broadly ovate-triangular to nearly rounded, abaxially stellate pubescent, glabrescent, adaxially tomentose, veins conspicuous on both surfaces, base broadly convex, margin sharply dentate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence terminal, apparently erect to ascending, densely tomentose, glabrescent after anthesis, with scattered prickles; primary axis to ca. 30 cm long; secondary axes to 10 (-13) cm long; peduncles 1.5-2 cm long; umbels 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter; pedicels 0.8-1 cm long. Ovary 2-carpellate. Fruit subglobose, ca. 8 mm in diameter; styles persistent, ca. 2.5 mm long.

There are some reports for the chromosomal data of Brassaiopsis hainla. The counts of number are 2n = 24 (Yi et al., 2004).

Growing in forests along valleys; 1300-2100 m.

Brassaiopsis hainla is a species of shrub in the family Araliaceae. It is used as fodder by the farmers in Nepal.