Studies on morphology and anatomy of Acanthopanax gracilistylus, a. Koreanum and A. sieboldianus

Acanthopanax species are well known medicinal plants in Korea for their adaptogenic efficacy. With regard to the botanical classification of Acanthopanax koreanum, an indigenous species in Jeju island of Korea, it has been classified as a different species of Acanthopanax genus. However, the morphological characteristics of A. koreanum are very similar with other Acanthopanax species, especially with A. gracilistylus and the profile of chemical constituents showed no significant difference among Acanthopanax species. In order to provide further classification information among these botanically related species, anatomical studies on these Acanthopanax species were performed with microscope. It has been found that A. koreanum is similar to A. gracilistylus in terms of histological characteristics and was distinguished from A. sieboldianus by their morphological and anatomical differences. From this result, A. koreanum could be classified as a variety species of A. gracilistylus such as A. gracilistylus var. koreanum.