Umbrella Tree
Schefflera arboricola
📖 About this plant
A popular, bushy houseplant featuring glossy, dark green, palmate leaves with 7-9 leaflets radiating outward like the ribs of an umbrella. The variegated cultivar features creamy-yellow margins. It can be grown as a bushy tabletop plant or trained as a small indoor tree on a single trunk. Fast-growing, adaptable, and relatively easy to care for. An effective air purifier that filters benzene and formaldehyde from indoor environments. One of the most forgiving houseplants for beginners.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Bright indirect
Every 1-2 weeks
Moderate (40-60%)
15-28°C
Well-draining, peat-based potting mix with perlite and compost; slightly acidic pH preferred
Balanced liquid fertilizer (10-10-10) diluted to half strength every 4-6 weeks during growing season
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Taiwan, southern China, Hainan
- 📏 Max height
- 90-180 cm indoors (can reach 8-15 m in natural habitat)
- 📐 Spread
- 60-150 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Rarely indoors
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Red
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Green
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Moderate
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Mildly toxic to cats and dogs — contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause oral irritation, excessive drooling, vomiting, and loss of appetite if ingested
- 🌱 Propagation
- Stem tip cuttings rooted in water or moist potting mix; air layering also effective for larger plants; seeds possible but rarely used
🛡️ Health & Safety
Mildly toxic to cats and dogs — contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause oral irritation, excessive drooling, vomiting, and loss of appetite if ingested
Common issues
- Root rot from overwatering
- Spider mites
- Scale insects
- Leaf drop from cold drafts
💡 Care tips
- Can grow up to 8 feet indoors
- Prune in spring to control height and shape
- Sap can irritate skin so wear gloves when pruning
- Dropping leaves usually indicates overwatering
