Kalopanax plctue (Thunb.) Nak' 
Family: Arallaceae 
By 
B. F. KUKACHKA, Forest Products Technologist 
Forest Products Laboratory,— Forest Service 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Introduction 
Sen, which is also known as hari-gari, Castor Arabia, and more recently und' r 
the copyrighted name "nakora," is a Japanese hardwood belonging to the 
ginseng family. Sen occurs most commonly in the temperate-zone, mountainous 
forests in the northern part of Honshu and in all parts of Hokkaido. In 
deep forests or on fertile ground, the trees may grow to exceptionally large 
sizes, but they more commonly attain heights of 80 feet and diameters up to 
^0 inches. Although sen makes up a relatively small volume of the total 
Japanese hardwood production, it is considered one of the more important 
species. This species is sometimes sold as Japanese ash, but the name is 
inappropriate because ash belongs to the genus Fraxinus of the family 
Oleaceae. References to this species may also be found in the literature 
under the synonyms Acanthopanax ricinifolium Seem, and Kalopanax ricinifolium 
Miq. Although Kalopanax pictus also occurs in China, Manchuria, and Korea, 
it is imported to the United States only from Japan. 
The Wood 
The sapwood of sen is white, and the heartwood may be a pale yellowish brown 
to a grayish brown. There is no sharp line of demarcation between sapwood 
and heartwood . The figure produced by the large springwood pore zone sug- 
gests ash ( Fraxinus spp.) when flat sawn or rotary cut and American elm 
( Ulmus americana L.) in quartered material. The wood is straight grained, 
lustrous, and similar to ash and American elm in texture. 
-Maintained at Madison, Wis., in cooperation with the University of 
Wisconsin. 
Kept. No. 1979 (Revised) -1- Agriculture -Mad is on 
