Acanthopanax was described by K. I. Maximovich, a Russian botanist, on the basis of collections from Khabarovsk Territory made in 1855. It is a low-branched shrub, 2-3 m tall, with readily breaking brittle branches. The diameter of its stem base is 3-8 cm. Mature specimens have up to 30 shoots of different age. The bark of one-year shoots is gray and smooth, and that of mature shoots wrinkly and curly, with scattered light-brown lenticels, lighter than the stem itself. The leaves (3-5) are palmaticomplex, and the petioles are up to 19 cm long, green or greenish-gray in color, expanding at the base into a small vagina. On top they are green and naked, and below lighter, with serrate edges and short barbs along the veins. The flowers are small, dark-brown, bisexual or polygamous (dioecious or monoecious), and situated on very short peduncles. The flowers are clustered into dense, almost globular umbels 1-3 cm in diameter to form on the shoot ends either penicillate or umbelliform inflorescence. The central umbel in the inflorescence is larger than the side umbels, and is usually located on the longer peduncle; it opens earlier and consists of pistil (female) or bisexual flowers. The side umbels consist of functionally staminate (male) and bisexual flowers.

The flowers start to open in mid-May, and the plant blossoms in August to bear fruit in September-October. The fruits are juicy and black, inversely oval or ellipsoidal, up to 1.2 cm long and 0.7 cm wide, with two or three seeds strongly squeezed from the sides.

In Russia, Acanthopanax occurs in Primorye, in the south of Khabarovsk Territory and in the southeast part of the Amur Region, in regions not rising more than 300 m above sea level. It grows either singly or in small groups in broad-leaved and coniferous broad-leaved forests along river valleys and ravines, and among shrub thickets.

It is used as a medicinal and decorative plant in Korea, Chine, and in Russian folk medicine. In Russia, it is not recognized as a medicinal plant. Preliminary experiments indicate that the effect of Acanthopanax preparations is similar to that of preparations from other Far Eastern Araliaceae.

In nature, the plant is reproduced chiefly by seeds; in culture, both by seeds and by green shoot cutting. Initially, seeds are stratified under 18-20° (for two or three months), then under 9-10° (for one or two months) and finally under 0-3° (for two months). Germinating capacity ranges from 50 to 60%. However, if one month later after the start of cold stratification the seeds are treated with giberellin, germinating capacity would increase to 91%. The best method of vegetative reproduction would be green shoot cutting with use of indolylbutirate as a rooting agent. In this case, 80% of the cuts take root.

Illustration:

Fig. 7.1. Geographic distribution of A. E. sessiliflorus.