Schefflera umbellifera Bonsai Seeds

Family : Araliaceae (ivy family)

This tree is an upright tree with a rounded crown making it suitable for a bonsai, courtyard or gardens with limited space. It was selected as one of the South African Trees of the Year for 2005.

Schefflera umbellifera is a semi-deciduous tree of 6-20 m in height when planted in open ground. It has a tall, straight, usually unbranched main stem, and a much-branched, rounded crown. The stem has a rough, longitudinally fissured and grey-brown bark.

The leaves are clustered at the ends of the branches. The leaves are compound, digitate (leaflets arranged like a hand), with 3-5 oblong leaflets, leathery, glossy dark green above, paler beneath.

Small, pale yellow flowers are borne in large, branched, terminal heads. The tree is very attractive when in flower, as the heads stand out well above the leaves. It flowers between January and May. The fruits are dark red, small, about 3 mm in diameter and round, appearing from June to August.

The leaves are used medicinally to treat a wide variety of ailments such as insanity, rheumatism, stomachache, and malaria.