Schefflera actinophylla Amate® - Queensland umbrella tree

Schefflera 'Amate', or Australian umbrella tree, is a variety of Heptapleurum actinophyllum (formerly Schefflera actinophylla) selected for indoor cultivation. With its large, glossy green palmate leaves and its tree-like silhouette, this large green plant has a very beautiful presence. Less demanding than most tropical species, it acclimatises quite easily in our homes and apartments.

Botanically, Schefflera 'Amate' belongs to the Araliaceae family: it is a cultivar of Heptapleurum actinophyllum, an arborescent species native to the rainforests of northeastern Australia, New Guinea and Java. In its natural medium, the umbrella tree grows on forest edges, along watercourses or sometimes as a hemiepiphyte on the trunks of other trees, where it can reach 10 to 15 m in height.
The 'Amate' form is said to have been spotted by a Californian nurseryman, Johnny Mastler, then entrusted to Ray Oglesby in Florida, who introduced it into in vitro culture and disseminated it on a large scale during the 1980s. Faithfully propagated by tissue culture, it is now produced worldwide under the trade name Amate®, and has served as the basis for other cultivars such as 'Alpine Jr.' or 'Amate Soleil'. Indoors, this plant behaves like a small, fast-growing tree with a naturally upright but flexible habit. In a large pot, it reaches 2 to 3 m in height and 1 m to 1.50 m in spread. Its long stems end in palmate leaves, divided into 7 to 12 oblong leaflets 15 to 30 cm long, very dark green and shiny; in 'Amate', these leaflets are distinctly wider and more leathery than in other varieties. Flowering is very rarely observed indoors.
Like other Schefflera, this cultivar is toxic if ingested by humans and pets.

This large houseplant requires abundant light but no direct sun behind a window, temperatures ranging from 18 to 24 °C and a humidity level between 40 and 60%, close to that of our interiors. It is quite an accommodating variety: it is mainly sensitive to excess water and will decline in rooms that are too dark. You can place it in a spacious living room, a frost-free conservatory or any other room with good ceiling height.

Schefflera 'Amate' can be used as a true small living room tree: place it in a large pot near a glazed bay window facing east or northeast. At its base, you can place a Calathea orbifolia and an Alocasia ‘California’. And let a Philodendron ‘Painted Lady’ or a Philodendron ‘Malay Gold’ climb nearby.