The rice paper plant (Tetrapanax papyriferus) is native to Taiwan and south China. It is monotypic, the only species in its genus. Tetrapanax is in the Araliaceae, the ginseng family.

The pith of the Tetrapanax stem was used to make 'paper'. Tetrapanax 'paper' was cut by turning the pith against a blade; the way veneer is cut from a log. The thin sheet of pith was pressed and dried for use by painters and calligraphers.

Paintings from the Orient were first introduced to Europe and North America in the 1800s. True paper, made from a slurry of plant fibers and waste silk, was invented in China around 100 BCE. This artists' pith paper so resembled true paper that it was misnamed 'rice paper'.

The method of using Tetrapanax to produce rice paper stopped in the early 1900s. Modern rice paper is made from the paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera and other plant fibers.

Tetrapanax is very dramatic in the landscape; the leaves can grow to a meter (3 feet) across. But the plant will take over the garden if the underground runners are not contained.

Tetrapanax papyriferus is called kung-shu in China and kami yatsude in Japan.