fortunei – refers to Robert Fortune, a Scottish plant explorer in the 1800s who conducted most of his expeditions in China, often for the purpose of finding tea plants

Native range: E. Asia

Leaves:

• fan shaped
• round but deeply lobed
• extremely large, 2-4 ft.
• leathery (coriaceous)
• long petioles with teeth along margin
• evergreen

Flowers:

• radial
• 3-parted
• 6 stamens
• 3 styles
• small, yellow flowers in large hanging clusters
• dioecious

Fruit:

• drupe
• looks like grape clusters

Other characteristics:

• tree up to 60 ft. or shrub
• unbranched trunk
• fibrous hairs on trunk from persisting petioles

Relevant info:

• fibers from the trunks of mature trees are stripped for weaving into a decorative hemp-like rope or for making brooms, mats, or cloth
• one of the few palms that are hardy in PNW
• dwarf cultivars exist

Ecology & Adaptations:

• native to subtropical and temperate mountain forests of Central and Eastern China to N. Myanmar (Burma), where it grows 20-40’ tall
• heat adapted – large leaves provide large photosynthetic surface, while deep incisions allow air flow that disperses heat
• adapted to intense sunlight – high light saturation point (i.e., point beyond which more light does not result in higher photosynthetic rate)
• shade tolerant juveniles:
  • seedlings establish in shaded conditions
  • large leaf area maximizes light capture
  • longe (etiolated) petiole elevates leaves off the forest floor
• tolerant of cold temperatures – perhaps due in part to high levels of an enzyme (peroxidase) that facilitates production of compounds that reduce freezing temperature of the leaf tissue
• seed dispersal – fruits are eaten and distributed by birds
• escaped ornamental is invasive in Japan and deciduous forests of southern Switzerland/Northern Italy, where it was planted in the gardens of new houses in the 1950s
• evergreen habit allows plant to take advantage of available light before deciduous trees leaf out, espeically in forests without other evergreen species such as Ilex aquifolium (English holly) in Europe
• climate change may be facilitating spread
• forest restoration efforts in Europe and Japan require removal of this species