Umbrella tree
Heptapleurum arboricola
Also called Schefflera and Dwarf umbrella tree
Houseplant · Trees & big statementsGoes leggy reaching for light. Cut it back by a third and it comes back twice as full.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 9 daysDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Bright indirect
- Feed
- Every 45 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out for the summer RHS H1C, to 5°C
- Size
- 2 m tall · 1 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- Taiwan and Hainan
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsToxic to pets
Affects dogs, cats. Signs: an irritated, intensely burning mouth, tongue and lips, heavy drooling, vomiting and trouble swallowing.
PeopleIrritates skin
HandlingTake care handling it
The sap carries oxalate crystals that sting skin and mouth.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- A sticky film on the leaves and the floor under the plant, before the brown bumps show along the leaf stalks.Scale insect · pest
- The gap between one whorl of leaves and the next has doubled compared with the growth below it.Leggy stretch · disorder