Cuphocarpus

Cuphocarpus is an obsolete genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. Mabberley (2008) treated it as a synonym of "Polyscias", but other authors still recognized it at that time. In 2010, in a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences, it was shown that "Cuphocarpus" was biphyletic and embedded in the large genus "Polyscias". In an accompanying paper, "Polyscias" was divided into 11 subgenera, with seven species left incertae sedis.
Since "Cuphocarpus" is no longer an accepted genus, its species will be referred to herein by their names in "Polyscias". "Polyscias aculeata" is the type species for "Cuphocarpus". It is now the sole species in "Polyscias" subgenus Cuphocarpus. Four other species, formerly in "Cuphocarpus", are now in "Polyscias" subgenus Maralia. All species that have ever been placed in "Cuphocarpus" are endemic to Madagascar.
"Polyscias inermis" has been recognized by some authors, but others have regarded it as conspecific with "Polyscias aculeata". "Polyscias aculeata" (sensu lato) is indigenous to the coastal forest of eastern Madagascar. "Polyscias briquetiana", "Polyscias humbertiana", "Polyscias leandriana", and "Polyscias compacta" (= "Cuphocarpus commersonii") are montane species of the Madagascan interior. They were transferred from "Cuphocarpus" to "Polyscias subgenus Maralia" in 2010.
Recognizing six species, Frodin and Govaerts (2003) described "Cuphocarpus" as "shrubs or trees, closely related to "Polyscias", but fruits 1-seeded; these latter are moreover surmounted by the persistent calyptroid corolla". René Viguier thought that they were sometimes parthenocarpous.
History.
The genus "Cuphocarpus" was erected by Decaisne and Planchon in 1854. Quattrocchi writes that the name is "from the Greek "kyphos" "bent, curved, humped" and "carpos" "fruit"".
Decaisne and Planchon named only one species, "Cuphocarpus aculeatus" (now "Polyscias aculeata"). "Cuphocarpus inermis" (now "Polyscias inermis") was added by John Gilbert Baker in 1884. Hermann Harms put both of these in "Polyscias" in 1898, but his treatment was not followed by others.
In 1966, Luciano Bernardi described four new species in "Cuphocarpus". When these were transferred to "Polyscias" in 2010, "Cuphocarpus commersonii" was renamed as "Polyscias compacta", because the name "Polyscias commersonii" already existed. The latter is a synonym for "Polyscias paniculata", a Madagascan endemic in "Polyscias" subgenus Grotefendia. The four species described by Bernardi are now in "Polyscias" subgenus Maralia.
In 2003, Frodin and Govaerts stated that "Cuphocarpus" "is seen as biphyletic". It was confirmed to be so in 2010 in a molecular phylogenetic study of nuclear and chloroplast DNA. "Polyscias aculeata" (including "Polyscias inermis") was resolved as sister to "Polyscias" subgenus Sciadopanax, which consists of 13 species from Africa, Madagascar, and nearby islands. "Polyscias aculeata" was placed in its own subgenus, "Polyscias" subgenus Cuphocarpus. The four species described by Bernardi are now in "Polyscias" subgenus Maralia. This is the largest subgenus of "Polyscias" and will contain about 115 species, when all of the undescribed species are published. Nearly all of them are restricted to Madagascar. 