Shrub or small tree to about 5 m tall. Leaves crowded at the tips of the branches, the young ones larger than the mature ones. Leaflets 3-5, thick and leathery, hardly stalked, more or less toothed in the upper half, 5-10 cm long, 2-4 cm wide. Flower clusters terminal and compound with 4-8 primary rays. Flowers about 5 mm wide. Ovary of 5 chambers. Fruit oblong, about 5 mm long, containing 5 seeds.
New Zealand
Source: (2002). Araliaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Pseudopanax lessonii 'Gold Splash'
Leaves yellow-variegated, the variegation becoming confined to the midrib and veins as the plant ages.
Originated in the garden of Trevor Davies, New Plymouth, New Zealand, c. 1969, as a sprout from an old stump. Introduced 1978.
Often used as a tub plant.