Description
Schefflera – Brassaia – Dizygotheca – Heptapeurum –
There are 700-900 mostly evergreen shrubs, trees, climbers (some epiphytic when juvenile), in the Araliaceae family, in this genus. They are found naturally occurring in warm temperate and tropical areas of Southeastern Asia to the Pacific Islands, and Central and South America. They are grown mainly for their spiraled, long stalked, usually rounded, fully divided leaves, each with 3-30 stalked leaflets. Juvenile leaves are sometimes different to than the mature leaves. In summer, autumn, winter, mature trees bear compound umbels, panicles, racemes, or spikes of usually tiny flowers with 4 or 5 yellow green to greenish red petals. The flowers are followed by mostly spherical or egg shaped, black or purple fruits. Grow as a house plant.
Indoors, grow in soil based potting mix in bright filtered or indirect light. During the growing season, water moderately and apply a balanced liquid fertilizer monthly, keep just moist in winter.
Prone to scale insects, thrips, mealybugs, and the larvae of some Lepidopteran species including Batrachedra arenosella.
S. elegantissima – Aralia elegantissima – Dizygotheca elegantissima – False Aralia – This erect, sparsely branched, large shrub or small tree grows to 25-50′ feet tall and 6-10′ feet wide in the wild, usually to 6′ feet tall indoors, its form New Caledonia It produces leaves, 3-16″ long, composed of 7-11 linear, deeply saww toothed leaflets 6-9″ long, when young, they are glossy, dark green above, dark brown green beneath,, with white midribs, adult plants have broader, stiffer, less glossy leaflets. In autumn and winter, bears yellowish green flowers in terminal umbels, to 12″ long, followed By spherical black fruit.
Zones 14-15
