Raukaua is a genus of woody plants. They vary in habit: for example R. laetevirens is a small tree, while R. valdiviensis is a liana. Like most of Araliaceae, they have palmately compound leaves. The leaves are heteroblastic, that is, conspicuously different in form from juvenile to adult. R. simplex often produces root suckers and on these, the further the sucker is from the main shoot, the more juvenile the form of the leaves.[1]
Raukaua is known to be polyphyletic and will eventually be revised,[4] but in its current circumscription, it comprises six species.[3]R. gunnii is endemic to Tasmania. R. laetevirens and R. valdiviensis are from southern Chile and Argentina, the latter being restricted to the Valdivian temperate rain forest.[citation needed]R. anomalus, R. edgerleyi, and R. simplex are from New Zealand.[citation needed] There are naturally occurring hybrids between R. simplex and the other two New Zealand species.[6]
Subsequently, most authors did not recognize Seemann's genus, and they usually placed its species in other genera, usually Pseudopanax.[citation needed] In cases where Raukaua was accepted, it usually included only the New Zealand species.
^ abDavid J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. ISBN978-0-521-82071-4. (See External links below).
^Roderick J. Weston. 2004. Essential Oils of the Leaves of the Raukaua Genus (Araliaceae). Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung. Tubingen-Mainz, Series C (A Journal of Biosciences) volume 59,pages 35-38. (See External links below).
^ abcDavid G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. World Checklist and Bibliography of Araliaceae. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN978-1-84246-048-1. (See External links below).
^ abcdAnthony D. Mitchell, Rong Li, Joseph W. Brown, Ines Schönberger, and Jun Wen. 2012. Ancient divergence and biogeography of Raukaua (Araliaceae) and close relatives in the southern hemisphere. Australian Systematic Botany 25(6):432-446. doi:10.1071/SB12020. (See External links below).
^Antoine N. Nicolas and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2009. The demise of subfamily Hydrocotyloideae (Apiaceae) and the realignment of its genera across the entire order Apiales. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53(1):134-151. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.06.010.
^ abPatrick B. Heenan. 1998. The status of Raukaua edgerleyi var. serratus and R. x parvus comb. nov. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36(2):307-310. (See External links below).
^Raukaua In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
^Raukaua in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
^Berthold Carl Seemann. 1866. On the genus Raukana (sic). page 352. In: Revision of the natural order Hederaceae. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 4:352. (See External links below).
^ abAnthony D. Mitchell, David G. Frodin, and Michael J. Heads. 1997. Reinstatement of Raukaua, a genus of the Araliaceae centred in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 35(3):309-315. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1997.10410156. (See External links below).
^Berthold Carl Seemann. 1868. page 142 In: Additions and Corrections to the Revision of Hederaceae, pages 140-142. In: Revision of the Natural Order Hederaceae, pages 129-142. In: Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, volume 6. (See External links below).
^David G. Frodin, Porter P. Lowry II, and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2010. Schefflera (Araliaceae): taxonomic history, overview, and progress. Plant Diversity and Evolution 128(3-4):561-595. doi:10.1127/1869-6155/2010/0128-0028.
^Gregory M. Plunkett, Jun Wen, Porter P. Lowry II, Murray J. Henwood, Pedro Fiaschi, and Anthony D. Mitchell. accepted, undated. Araliaceae, pages ??. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor); ?? (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume ??. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN ??