Volume 14 > Part 2 > Year 2019 > Page 224 > Araliaceae > Schefflera

1. Schefflera actinophylla (Endl.) Harmswfo-0000305603

in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3.8: 36. 1894; Frodin, J. Arnold Arbor. 56: 436. 1975; in Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 3: 31. 1978; Baileya 23: 8. 1989; in Frodin & Govaerts, World Checkl. Bibliogr. Araliac.: 321. 2004 (‘2003’); S.Gardner et al., Forest Trees S. Thailand 1: 233. 2015.— Brassaia actinophylla Endl., Nov. Stirp. Dec. 1: 89. 1839.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Trees to 7 m tall when planted, dbh 15 cm, but also as epiphytes when naturalised, clumped, branching from base, not or rarely above, with several trunks increasing in number with age, bark silvery-grey; branch tips 2–3 cm in diam.; aromatic in all parts. Leaves in whorls; stipules fused to tip, triangular, narrow, 3–8 cm long, closely appressed to the stem; petiole 25–50 cm long; petiolules 5–13 cm long; leaflets 9–13 (5 in leaf buds), their petiolules 5–13 cm long, broadly to narrowly obovate-elliptic; 16–40 by 6–13 cm, hardly variable in same leaf; chartateous, base obtuse-rounded, broad cuneate; margin entire or somewhat crenate, and minutely mucronate towards apex; apex rounded to mucronate, slightly paler beneath, venation visible but indistinct, side veins in 11–17 pairs. Inflorescence a massive candelabra of up to 20 racemes, each ca 50–100 cm long, and bearing in excess of 100 capitulate umbels of white, pink or red flowers; umbels ca 12 mm in diam., with ca 12 flowers, their peduncles ca 1 cm long. Flowers sessile; petals 8–10, 5–8 mm long, usually shed as a calyptra; stamens 10, filaments to 2.5 mm; disc to 5 mm across, stigmas sessile, ovules 10–12. Fruits bright red or black, globose, 6–8 mm in diam.; aggregated in heads ca 20–25 mm in diameter.

Thailand : Cultivated, collected in CENTRAL: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok).

Distribution : Australia (type), Aru Islands, New Guinea, but now widely cultivated, throughout SE Asia and in other warmer parts of the world, sometimes escaped and naturalizing.

Ecology : Cultivated. Flowering: April–September.

Vernacular : Nuat pla muek (หนวดปลาหมึก)(Bangkok); Umbrella tree, octopus tree (English).

Uses: Widely cultivated in warmer areas worldwide, as ornamental tree for the beautiful leaves and flowers. The large leaflets and bright red inflorescence distinguish it readily. In Singapore this species has already become naturalized, in some countries (e.g. the U.S.A.) becoming a serious weed tree.

E-version notes : Heptapleurum actinophyllum (Endl.) Lowry & G.M.Plunkett
Novon 28: 146. 2020.