the ginseng family of flowering plants, in the order Apiales, comprising approximately 700 species centred in Southeast Asia and tropical America. Most members are shrubs or trees, though there are a number of climbers and a few herbs. The family has large, usually alternate, compound leaves, five-parted flowers arranged in compound umbels (flat-topped clusters), and a berry or (rarely) a drupe (a one-seeded fruit). Several members of the family are economically important. Ivies (Hedera (ivy) species) are grown as ornamental plants and houseplants. The rice-paper plant (Tetrapanax papyriferum) is the source of rice paper, and the wood of several species, especially that of Dendropanax arboreum and several members of the genus Didymopanax, provides timber.