False Aralia tree - Schefflera elegantissima

The observations in this post are from a number of adult “Shefflera elegantissima” trees in the city of Malaga. Most of the information that I have found on the internet related to this tree as a potted plant or indoor tree. The only thing I know about the use of this tree species as a potted plant is that the leaves are quite a bit different on young trees than they are on adult trees (see images below).

The leaves of this tree are similar to in size and shape to those of the Schefflera actinophylla (Umbrella tree) except that they have a pronounced serration and tend to be a bit darker tone of green.

The flowers of the False Aralia are large and branch off into multiple clusters of little ball like blossoms, with 5-7 in each cluster. These little green balls then turn into little black balls which I believe is the fruit. The flowers are not very sightly and tend to look more like a tangled web than anything else.

I´ve photograped a tree that I believe is about a big as this species normally grows. It was about 25-30 feet tall (7-9 meters). As you can see from the image the form of the tree has filled out into a pretty normal “tree-like” shape with a main trunk and branches. Most of the younger trees that I have seen tend to have multiple stems and very little branching.

The difference between the leaves on a young tree vs. an adult tree is that the leaves of the young tree are very slender (1/2 inch wide - 1.5-2.5 cm) while those of adult trees are wider (about 3 inches wide (10cm)).

The young trees tend to be tall slender stems with slender leaves and can be very attractive as indoor plants.

This tree is related to the Umbrella tree and the Dwarf Umbrella tree