无梗五加 wu geng wu jia

Panax sessiliflorus Ruprecht & Maximowicz, Bull. Cl. Phys.-Math. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 15: 133. 1856 ["sessiliflorum"]; Acanthopanax sessiliflorus (Ruprecht & Maximowicz) Seemann; A. sessiliflorus var. parviceps Rehder; Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus var. parviceps (Rehder) S. Y. Hu.

Trees, small, to 5 m tall. Branches unarmed or with scattered, erect or recurved prickles. Petiole 3-12 cm, unarmed or with small prickles; petiolules 2-10 mm; leaflets 3-5, obovate, oblong-obovate, or oblong-lanceolate, 8-18 × 3-7 cm, papery, secondary veins 5-7 pairs, distinct, adaxially glabrous or slightly scabrous, base cuneate, margin irregularly serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence terminal, a raceme of umbels, borne on leafy shoots, with 3-6 capitate umbels; peduncles 0.5-3 cm, densely pubescent; pedicels absent (flowers sessile). Calyx with 5 teeth, white pubescent. Corolla dull purplish. Ovary 2-carpellate; styles united basally into a column, free apically. Fruit obovoid-globose, 1-1.5 cm; styles persistent, ca. 3 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Nov.

Scrub fields and forests on mountain slopes; 200-1000 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shanxi [Korea].

This species is used medicinally.

Two varieties (Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus var. sessiliflorus and var. parviceps) have sometimes been distinguished on the basis of minor differences in leaf shape and fruit size, but they do not appear to be worthy of recognition.