Schefflera arboricola

Schefflera arboricola is a flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Taiwan as well as Hainan. Its common name is dwarf umbrella tree, as it resembles a smaller version of the umbrella tree, Schefflera actinophylla.

Description

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 8-9 m tall, free-standing, or clinging to the trunks of other trees as an epiphyte. The leaves are palmately compound, with 7-9 leaflets, the leaflets 9-20 cm long and 4-10 cm broad (though often smaller in cultivation) with a wedge-shaped base, entire margin, and an obtuse or acute apex, sometimes emarginate. The leaves are leathery in texture, shiny green glabrous on the upper surface and somewhat lighter and matte on the underside. Young plants have smaller leaves with fewer leaflets. Each leaflet has a central rib that divides it into two halves, with between four and six ribs clearly visible up to the third order. The stipules merge with the petiole, the length of which is 12-15 cm.

The flowers are produced in a 20 cm panicle of small umbels, each umbel 7-10 mm diameter with 5-10 flowers. The flowering period extends from midsummer to early autumn. They are hermaphroditic and have a range of colours from yellow to green. They are composed of an entire annular calyx, five almost fully developed sepals, a corolla with five petals 2.5 mm long, with five stamens and five or six carpels that enclose the ovary. The style is not recognizable and the stigma is established. The fruits have an almost spherical oval drupe, with a diameter of about 5 mm. Inside the endocarp contains five seeds. These fruits mature from late summer through early winter. They are initially glandular and have a colour that ranges between orange to red-violet when they reach maturity.