Dizygotheca elegantissima Seeds | False Aralia
LATIN NAME: Dizygotheca elegantissima
COMMON NAME: False Aralia
Plant Profile
False aralia is a slender evergreen shrub or small tree from New Caledonia, grown indoors for foliage that looks almost manufactured. It grows two to eight metres in the wild, with a thin, upright trunk and a crown of compound leaves, each divided into seven to eleven narrow, deeply toothed leaflets that radiate from a central point and are dark bronze-green with a coppery flush when young. The effect is of a hand of thin fingers. Small greenish flowers appear in umbels at the top of the plant when it is mature, followed by black berries, though flowering is rare indoors. It is a plant of the understorey in its native island, where the soil is poor and the light is filtered, and it grows slowly and lives long.
Science & Biotechnology
The plant has been through several names: Schefflera elegantissima, Dizygotheca elegantissima and now Plerandra elegantissima, a consequence of a molecular revision of the Araliaceae that split the old, unwieldy Schefflera into several genera. New Caledonia has an extraordinary concentration of these araliads, many of them narrow endemics on ultramafic soils rich in nickel and magnesium, and their leaf shapes vary from broad to almost needle-like. The narrow leaflets of this species are thought to be an adaptation that reduces water loss and heat load in exposed sites, and the dark pigmentation protects young tissue from strong light. The genus is also noted for its calcium oxalate crystals, which make the sap irritating and the plant toxic to pets.
Uses & Benefits
The plant is grown as a houseplant and a conservatory specimen, valued for its architectural foliage and its tolerance of indoor conditions, though it needs more humidity than most. In warm climates it is used as a shaded screen or a tall container plant on a terrace. In its native range the wood is sometimes used for small implements, and related species are used in local medicine, but this one has no medicinal role. It is one of the best plants for a bright bathroom or a shaded conservatory, where the humidity keeps the leaflet tips from browning. Its slow growth makes it suitable for a small space, and it can be kept for many years in the same pot with occasional repotting.
Growing from Seed
Seed is rarely available and should be sown fresh on a light, sterile mix of peat, perlite and sand, pressed into the surface and covered with a bare two millimetres. Keep at twenty-four to twenty-eight degrees with high humidity and bright, filtered light; germination takes three to six weeks and is uneven. The seedling is slow and should not be potted on until the roots fill the container. Grow on in a humid, shaded spot, water when the surface dries, and feed lightly in summer. Outdoors, plant only in a frost-free, sheltered site with rich, drained soil. Wipe the leaves occasionally, since dust defeats the point of growing it.
Our Take
A New Caledonian araliad with leaflets like spread fingers. Slow, shade-loving and one of the best foliage plants for a humid room.
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