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Wheel Tree
Trochodendron aralioides
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An evergreen tall tree of mountainous areas in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. It produces flowers lacking petals and sepals, and leaves cluster at branch tips in a wheel-like arrangement. Notable as a primitive woody plant lacking vessel elements (tracheids only).
Identification Points
- βLeaves clustered at branch tips in an apparent whorl
- βFlowers without petals or sepals, with numerous conspicuous stamens
- βEvergreen with coriaceous leaves and long petioles
Habitat
Mountain forests and forest edges
Season
MayβJune (flowers)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Leaf arrangement
Whorled
Habitat
Mountain
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Petal fusion
Free
Stipules
Absent
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Ovary position
Half-inferior
Plant sex
Dioecious
Phylogenetic Positionγ€γγ°γ«γη§ β
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Basal eudicots > Trochodendrales > Trochodendraceae
Divergence Era
Early Cretaceous (approx. 120 million years ago)
Evolution Notes
Trochodendraceae is positioned near the base of the angiosperms, retaining the primitive trait of lacking vessels in the wood (tracheids only).
View on evolution timeline βSources & References
AI-generated, needs verification