ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <title>HEPTAPLEURUM ACTINOPHYLLA</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../zzz.css"> <style type="text/css"> img { border:1px solid; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; max-width:100% } </style> </head> <body style="font-family: Arial"><div id="header"> <a href="../index.html"> BACKYARD NATURE HOME</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../who.htm">WHO&nbsp;WE&nbsp;ARE<br><a href="../botany.htm"> PLANTS</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../animals.htm">ANIMALS</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../ecology.htm">ECOLOGY</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../f/2fungi.htm">FUNGI</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../g/geology.htm">GEOLOGY</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../simple/garden.htm">GARDENING</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../tools.htm">TOOLS</a><br><a href="index.htm" style="font-size:18px">MEXICAN PLANTS & ANIMALS HOME</a> </div><p> <p style="text-align:center; color:#880; font-weight:bold">Excerpts from Jim Conrad's<br> <a href="../n/index.htm" style="font-size:32px">Naturalist Newsletter</a></p> <div id="wrapper"> <p><span style="color:#888; font-weight:bold">from the October 22, 2017 Newsletter, a special on-the-road edition with notes from near Tepotzlán, Morelos state, MÉXICO, elevation about 5315 ft (1620m), at 18°592 073 N 99°052 593 W<br> <span style="color:#f00; font-size:26px">FRUITING SCHEFFLERA</span></span><br> I surprised my host by not recognizing a certain 20-ft tall tree with very distinctive, palmately compound leaves, and producing large, conspicuous fruiting heads, as shown below on a branch at the tree's top:</p> <img src="../n/17/171022sc.jpg" alt="HEPTAPLEURUM ACTINOPHYLLA, leaves and fruiting head"> <p>One of the tree's palmately compound leaves is nicely displayed at the picture's top, right corner. Notice how the stem-like petiolules of the leaf's many leaflets converge at the top of the leaf's stiff petiole. Below, you can see a close-up of some fruits:</p> <img src="../n/17/171022sd.jpg" alt="HEPTAPLEURUM ACTINOPHYLLA, fruits"> <p>"It's a Schefflera," my friend told me, "often seen as a potted plant in houses up North, and in gardens in warmer areas." </p> <p> Scheffleras are members of the Aralia Family, the Araliaceae, which often produce palmately compound leaves like these. </p> <p> It turns out that my friend was only half right. The Schefflera commonly grow up North as a houseplant, and famous for tolerating neglect and poor growing conditions, is <i>Schefflera arboricola</i>, native to Taiwan. <div style="width:40%; background-color:#ffc; float:right; color:#660; font-size:11pt; padding:5px; margin-left:9px; border:#660 1px solid"><b>*UPDATE:</b> Later both the houseplant <i>Schefflera arboricola</i> and my friend's <i>Schefflera actinophylla</i> were reassigned to the genus <i>Heptapleurum</i>. Now they are called <i>Heptapleurum arboricola</i> and HEPTAPLEURUM ACTINOPHYLA.</div> My friend's tree near Tepotzlán was a larger species, *SCHEFFLERA ACTINOPHYLLA, native to Australia, New Guinea and Java, and much grown outside in tropical climates worldwide. </p> <p> My friend's tree loaded with fruits sometimes is known as Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree and Amate -- names shared with other species. In the tree's native environment, its fruits are eaten by many bird species, and animals such as Musky Rat-kangaroos, Red-legged Pademelons, and Spectacled Flying Foxes. </p> <p> In Florida and Hawaii the species has become an aggressive weed-tree. </p></div> <div id="header"> <a href="../index.html"> BACKYARD NATURE HOME</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../who.htm">WHO&nbsp;WE&nbsp;ARE<br><a href="../botany.htm"> PLANTS</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../animals.htm">ANIMALS</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../ecology.htm">ECOLOGY</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../f/2fungi.htm">FUNGI</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../g/geology.htm">GEOLOGY</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../simple/garden.htm">GARDENING</a>&nbsp;| <a href="../tools.htm">TOOLS</a><br><a href="index.htm" style="font-size:18px">MEXICAN PLANTS & ANIMALS HOME</a> </div></body></html>