 araliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the aralia family (after its type genus aralia) or ivy family. the family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants in two subfamilies. species usually bear pinnately or palmately compound leaves, and usually have small flowers produced in large panicles. ==overview== the family from tropical area origin is present in cooler climates, too. they are found in the americas, eurasia, africa, australia, new zealand, new caledonia and pacific islands. araliaceae bear essential oils, or without essential oils can be resinous and heterophyllous. it presents many shapes, includes some trees and ivies as the angelica tree (devil's walking-stick, aralia spinosa), the devil's club (oplopanax horridus),  hedera spp., including hedera helix and herbs as ginseng  panax  spp., a native of korea and used as medical herb. leaves are simple, or compound, sometimes lauroid (resembling laurus) or peltate, or not peltate; when compound, ternate, or pinnate, or palmate. the systematics of araliaceae are currently under study, and taxonomic changes and novelties are to be expected. endemic araliaceae are found in the pluvial montane forest, very humid montane, and humid lowland river forest regions. they are present, too, in laurel forest, cloud forest and warm, humid habitats. the family is closely related to apiaceae and pittosporaceae, and the boundaries between these families and other members of apiales are still uncertain. some recent systems included araliaceae in an expanded apiaceae, but this has not been widely followed. molecular phylogeniesplunkett, g.m., soltis, d.e. & soltis, p.s. 1997. clarification of the relationship between apiaceae and araliaceae based on matk and rbcl sequence data. american journal of botany 84: 565-580 (available 
Araliaceae Asterid_families