Euptelea

Euptelea is a genus of two species[2] of flowering plants in the monogeneric family Eupteleaceae. The genus is found from Assam east through China to Japan, and consists of shrubs or small trees:

Euptelea pleiosperma
Euptelea polyandra
The genus was previously placed in the family Trochodendraceae, but the family Eupteleaceae has been recognized by many taxonomists. The APG IV system (2016;[1] unchanged from the APG III system of 2009,[3] the APG II system of 2003 and the APG system of 1998), recognizes it and places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots. The family consists of a single genus Euptelea, with two species, native to eastern Asia.

Euptelea polyandra is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the engrailed.

The flowers lack sepals and petals. The anthers are basifixed, and the leaves are arranged in whorls.[4]

The fossil range of the genus extends back to the Paleocene epoch, during much of the Cenozoic it was distributed widely over the Northern Hemisphere.[5]