Vasilis Teodoridis:
Araliaceae | Schefflera
24. Schefflera heptaphylla (Linnaeus) Frodin; Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 104: 314. 1991.
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Vitis heptaphylla Linnaeus; Mant. Pl. 2: 212. 1771; Aralia octophylla Loureiro; Heptapleurum octophyllum (Loureiro) Bentham ex Hance; Paratropia cantoniensis Hooker & Arnott; Schefflera atrifoliata R. H. Miao; S. octophylla (Loureiro) Harms; S. rubriflora C. J. Tseng & G. Hoo.
Trees; to 15 m tall; andromonoecious. Petiole (5-)10-30 cm; petiolules 1.5-5 cm; leaflets 6-9(-11); elliptic to oblong-elliptic or obovate-elliptic; 7-18 x 3-5 cm; papery to leathery; densely stellate pubescent when young; glabrescent except on midvein and in axils of veins; secondary veins 7-10 pairs; tertiary veins inconspicuous; base attenuate or cuneate to obtuse or rounded; margin entire; often serrate or pinnately lobed on young plants; apex abruptly acute to acuminate. Inflorescence a terminal panicle of umbels; densely stellate tomentose; glabrescent; primary axis to 35 cm; secondary axes 25(-35) cm; with a terminal umbel of bisexual flowers and several to many lateral umbels of bisexual or more often male flowers; usually also with 1 to several bisexual flowers borne just below apical umbel; pedicels 4-5 mm. Calyx pubescent at first; entire or 5- or 6-toothed. Ovary 5-9(or 10)-carpellate; styles united into a thick column less than 1.5 mm. Fruit globose; ca. 5 mm in diam.; inconspicuously angled when dry; styles persistent; to ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. Sep-Dec; fr. Dec-Feb.
Evergreen broad-leaved forests on mountain slopes; 100-2100 m. Fujian; Guangdong; Guangxi; Guizhou; Hunan; Jiangxi; SE Xizang; Yunnan; S Zhejiang [India; Japan; Thailand; Vietnam].
This species is used for its timber and also medicinally.