Tetrapanax
Tetrapanax
Family of shrubs
Tetrapanax papyrifer, the rice-paper plant[1] (通草—tong cao), is an evergreen shrub or tree in the family Araliaceae, the sole species in the genus Tetrapanax.[2] The specific epithet is frequently misspelled as "papyriferum", "papyriferus", or "papyrifera". It is endemic to Taiwan, but widely cultivated in East Asia and in other tropical[3] or mild temperate regions as well.[4]
The species was once included in the genus Fatsia as Fatsia papyrifera.[5]
A second species, Tetrapanax tibetanus, is now regarded as a synonym of Merrilliopanax alpinus.[6]