SN/NC: Schefflera actinophylla, Araliaceae Family
This strong plant was introduced to Hawaii in 1900 and Florida in 1927 as an ornamental. Its relative hardiness (in zone 10 and 11), quick growth, shiny foliage, and attractiveness to birds led to its being widely planted. The plants produce small red flowers, mostly in summer to early fall, in clusters shaped like the arms of an octopus or the ribs of an umbrella. Birds like to drink the nectar from the flowers. The fruit is inedible to humans but spread by birds.
So we've got a fast-growing tree that produces large amounts of fruits that birds like eating. You maybe see where this is going.
Yup, it's another invasive species. It shades out native species by growing extremely fast; it can also begin life as an epiphyte and overgrow its host tree quickly enough to kill it. The bigger problem for people who plant them, though, is that the plants are extremely destructive on small scales too, and people who have umbrella trees planted in their yards often find themselves wishing they didn't. Not only do they (the trees) drop leaves more or less constantly, but they'll also shade out and kill anything planted near them, the roots tear up driveways, raise and break plumbing and gas lines, push over walls, smash tiled courtyards, crush foundations, ruin sprinkler systems, and just generally cause mayhem. ("HULK SMASH!") According to the commenters at davesgarden.com, this doesn't seem to be as big of a problem in California as it is in Hawaii or Florida. It could be that the Californian commenters at davesgarden.com are unobservant, but it could also be the case that humidity is an important factor in how quickly the roots grow. I don't have enough information to make that call; I just know that California doesn't appear to have a problem with invasive, rampaging Scheffleras.
The plants can also, of course, regenerate from roots. This doesn't have much application to indoor growing, or even large-scale production, but it very much applies if you have a 40-foot Schefflera7 trying to crack open your home's foundation and pump gas in. You do have to get all the roots.
Florida has, of course, put umbrella tree on its do-not-plant list, but nurseries in Florida were still selling it as of 2002, and when I worked at the garden center in 2007-09, we were getting our Scheffleras from suppliers in Florida. So one senses, perhaps, a less-than-sweeping commitment to evict scheffs from the state. One official, Dan Thayer (Director of the Vegetation Management Division of South Florida), made a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that perhaps the way to turn things around would be to spread rumors about the plant, specifically that it attracts encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes, and hope that public panic would do the rest. (Which is when I decided that I liked Dan Thayer, the Director of the Vegetation Management Division of South Florida.) Scheffleras in fact don't attract encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes, or any other kind of mosquitoes, but hey: if it'll help Florida ecosystems and homeowners, I'm willing to reinforce the association in people's minds.
Mother Nature is certainly not going to do anything about the situation. Fire will kill scheffs sometimes, but it's not a guaranteed fix. Hurricane Andrew produced wind speeds of 165 mph (265 kph) when it hit Florida in 1992, and about 85% of the Scheffleras survived just fine. Scheffs tolerate herbicides pretty well, and even when herbicides work, they generally have to be applied more than once. This is a strongplant which is part of why they're so good indoors. Even with reduced light, low humidity, and confinement to a container, S. actinophylla is still vigorous, and generally pretty easy to care for, with just one major flaw.
Schefflera actinophylla (sin. Brassaia actinophylla) es una planta fanerógama pertreneciente a la familia de las araliáceas. Es nativo de las selvas lluviosas en Australia (este de Queensland y el Territorio del Norte), Nueva Guinea y Java. Nombres comunes incluyen Árbol Paraguas y Árbol Pulpo. S. actinophylla es un árbol perennifolio que crece a 15 m de alto. Tiene hojas compuestas medium verdes en grupos de siete hojas. Usualmente tiene troncos múltiples, y las flores se desarrollan en la parte alta del árbol. Con frecuencia crece como epífita en otros árboles del bosque lluvioso.1 Produce racimos de hasta 2 metros de largo conteniendo hasta 1,000 pequeñas flores rojas opacas. La floración empieza a principios del verano y típicamente continúa por varios meses.
Las flores producen grandes cantidades de néctar que atrae a las aves que se alimentan de miel. Los frutos son consumidos por muchas aves y animales incluyendo la rata canguro, el Thylogale stigmatica (pademelón de patas rojas) y los zorros voladores. Sus hojas son la comida favorita del Dendrolagus bennettianus (Canguro arborícola de Bennett).
Sinónimos: Brassaia actinophylla Endl., Brassaia singaporensis Ridl., Aralia longipes W. Bull
Nombre común: Árbol pulpo, árbol paraguas
Etimología: El género está dedicado al médico alemán Johann Peter Ernst Scheffler (1739-1810), incansable naturalista quien envió plantas al botánico alemán Gottfried Reyger, autor de Tentamen Florae Gedangensis. El epíteto específico procede de las palabras griegas aktinos = radio y phyllon = hoja, por la disposición de los folíolos. Los nombres populares se deben al aspecto de sus inflorescencias.
A Schefflera actinophylla Harms, tem como sinônimo
a Brassaia actinophylla Endl.
Nomes Populares:árvore-polvo, cheflera, cheflerão, cheflera da folha grande. Família Araliaceae, originada na Austrália. É considerada uma planta invasiva. É muito resistente (até aos pesticidas) pois cresce rapidamente e não é recomendada para paisagismo urbano pois ela "levanta" e arrebenta tudo que tem ao redor, incluindo ruas e pisos de alvenaria. Mas tem lindas flores que são resistentes, tóxicas, mas que os pássaros se encargam de espalhar rapidamente. Seu excesso de sombra acaba matando plantas menores ao seu redor. Assim, que tem que ficar de olho nela. A variedade menor, de interiores, para ambientes fechados, também são muito populares devido a ser muito resistente e crescer rapidamente.
