Astropanax
{{short description|Genus of Araliaceae plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image=
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|display_parents=3
|taxon=Astropanax
|authority=Seem.
|subdivision_ranks=Species
|subdivision=See text
|synonyms=Geopanax {{small|Hemsl.}}
}}
Astropanax is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Tropical Africa, Madagascar, and other Indian Ocean islands.{{cite POWO |id=2969-1 |title=Astropanax Seem. |access-date=8 January 2023 }} It was resurrected from Schefflera in 2017.{{cite journal |title=A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in Schefflera (Araliaceae): Resurrection of the genera Astropanax and Neocussonia |url=https://zenodo.org/record/7182886 |journal=Candollea |year=2017 |volume=72 |issue=2 |page=265 |doi=10.15553/c2017v722a4 |s2cid=90636101 |last1=Lowry |first1=Porter P. |last2=Plunkett |first2=Gregory M. |last3=Gostel |first3=Morgan R. |last4=Frodin |first4=David G. |bibcode=2017Cando..72..265L }}
Fossil occurrences of the genus are known from the early Miocene (Aquitanian) Mush Valley plant assemblages of Ethiopia from 21.73 million years ago and based on leaf and leaflet compressions and pollen.https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/advance-article/doi/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf011/8026643?searchresult=1https://phys.org/news/2025-03-discovery-species-fossil-tree-picture.html Astropanax eogetem is known from a prehistoric tropical moist or wet forest surrounding a crater lake.https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/advance-article/doi/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf011/8026643?searchresult=1https://phys.org/news/2025-03-discovery-species-fossil-tree-picture.html Additional potential records of the genus are also known from the late Oligocene and Pliocene of Ethiopia, based on pollen referred to as ‘Schefflera abyssinica – type’ and ‘Schefflera cf. S. abyssinica’.https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/advance-article/doi/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf011/8026643?searchresult=1
Species
The following species are accepted:
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- Astropanax abyssinicus {{small|(Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Seem.}} – Nigeria and Cameroon, and eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Malawi
- Astropanax barteri {{small|Seem.}} – western and west-central Africa to Angola
- †Astropanax eogetem {{small|Pan, Jacobs, Currano, Gostel, Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Hoffmann, Geier, et Grímsson}} - extinct - northwestern Ethiopia. {{cite journal | url=https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf011/8026643?redirectedFrom=PDF | doi=10.1093/botlinnean/boaf011 | title=Fossil Astropanax Seem. (Araliaceae) from the early Miocene (21.73 Mya) Mush Valley plant assemblages of Ethiopia | date=2025 | last1=Pan | first1=Aaron D. | last2=Jacobs | first2=Bonnie F. | last3=Currano | first3=Ellen D. | last4=Gostel | first4=Morgan R. | last5=Lowry | first5=Porter P. | last6=Plunkett | first6=Gregory M. | last7=Hoffmann | first7=Julia | last8=Geier | first8=Christian | last9=Grímsson | first9=Friðgeir | journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society | url-access=subscription }}{{cite web | url=https://phys.org/news/2025-03-discovery-species-fossil-tree-picture.html | title=Discovery of a new species of fossil tree helps paint picture of ancient African forest }}
- Astropanax evrardii {{small|(Bamps) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Astropanax goetzenii {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – eastern Africa from Uganda to Zimbabwe
- Astropanax humblotianus {{small|(Drake) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – central Madagascar
- Astropanax kivuensis {{small|(Bamps) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Astropanax mannii {{small|(Hook.f.) Seem.}} – eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Gulf of Guinea Islands
- Astropanax monophyllus {{small|(Baker) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Madagascar
- Astropanax myrianthus {{small|(Baker) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Madagascar and Comoro Islands
- Astropanax polysciadius {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Madagascar, Comoro Islands, and eastern Africa from Ethiopia to northern Malawi
- Astropanax procumbens {{small|(Hemsl.) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Seychelles
- Astropanax stolzii {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Tanzania (Rungwe District)
- Astropanax tessmannii {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Astropanax urostachyus {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania
- Astropanax volkensii {{small|(Harms) Lowry, G.M.Plunkett, Gostel & Frodin}} – Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania
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References
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