Common Name: Brassaia, Schefflera, Ivy Palm, Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree

Botanical Name: Schefflera actinophylla (syn. Brassaia actinophylla Endl.) - [ (shef-LER-uh) named for Jacob Christoph Scheffler, 18th century German botanist; (ak-ten-oh-FIL-uh) radiating leaves ] Family: Araliaceae (aralia or ivy family) - [ (uh-RAY-lee-uh-see-ay) latinized form of old French-Canadian name for Aralie; the aralia family ]

Origin: Australia, New Guinea and Java

Schefflera actinophylla (syn. Brassaia actinophylla) was named after a 19th century botanist, J.C. Scheffler. Common names include Umbrella Tree and Octopus Tree. It is a flowering plant in the ginseng family Araliaceae, native to rainforests in tropical eastern Queensland and the Northern Territory, Australia, as well as in New Guinea and Java. It is an evergreen tree growing to 15 m (49 ft) tall. It has compound medium green leaves in groups of seven leaves. It is usually multi-trunked, and the flowers develop at the top of the tree. It often develops an epiphytic habit and grows on other rainforest trees.

It is commonly grown as a decorative tree in larger gardens and, when mature, it has very showy red blooms with up to 20 racemes which develop in summer or early autumn. Its flowers are favoured by honey-eating birds.

Courtesy: - Dave's Garden - Top Tropicals - ZipCode Zoo - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia