Dwarf umbrella tree

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Brassaia arboricola (Clemson Extension), Heptapleurum arboricola (RHS), Schefflera (ASPCA, genus only). Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light

Medium light 100–150 fc

Clemson Extension, filed as Brassaia arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Partial shade

RHS, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Water

Moist but well-drained

RHS, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%

Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °C

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Soil

Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Toxic to cats

Toxic

ASPCA names the genus (Schefflera), not the species.

ASPCA, filed as Schefflera · read 13 September 2026

Toxic to dogs

Toxic

ASPCA names the genus (Schefflera), not the species.

ASPCA, filed as Schefflera · read 13 September 2026

Harmful to people

No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

How it usually goes wrong

A thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers

Tips first on a dwarf umbrella tree, then margins. Affected tissue is papery and slightly curled, and the damage stops rather than advancing once conditions change.

Penn State Extension notes that most indoor plants benefit from more humidity than a home heated in winter provides. The leaf edge, furthest from the veins, is where the shortfall shows.

Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.

Penn State ExtensionDwarf umbrella tree leggy, leaning growth: causes

The older part of the vine yellows while the compost stays soaked

Yellow spreads upward through the dwarf umbrella tree a few leaf blades at a time, and the compost darkens and stays cold to the touch.

Water held around the roots for days leaves them without air, and a root without air stops working within a week. Its source describes moist but well-drained soil for good reason.

Telling it apart: Lift it from the pot. Firm pale roots mean the water is not the problem; brown soft ones that smell sour mean it is.

RHSDwarf umbrella tree leaves turning yellow: causes

The vine leans hard toward the window

A dwarf umbrella tree reaches. Stems extend between leaf blades, and the newest growth is the palest thing on the plant while older leaf blades hold their colour.

Its source puts it in medium light. Under that, each new leaf blade costs more than it returns, so the plant builds fewer and thinner ones.

Telling it apart: Whether it leans. A plant reaching for a window is answering a light question, and it leans before it pales.

Clemson ExtensionDwarf umbrella tree leggy, leaning growth: causes

Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Dwarf umbrella tree.

Routine care

Watering

Let the soil dry, then water until soaked. To increase humidity, stand the pot on a tray filled with wet pebbles, keeping the water level below the top of the pebbles so the pot does not sit in water.

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

While growing, water moderately and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser; give little water in winter.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Feeding

While growing, give moderate water and a monthly balanced liquid fertiliser; in winter water sparingly.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Propagation

Seed, stem cuttings

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Increase from seed, by air layering, or from semi-ripe cuttings.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Pruning

Follow pruning group 1.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Pests and diseases

Can be troubled by mealybugs, soft scale, armored scale and banded greenhouse thrips.

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Can be troubled by scale insects, mealybugs and glasshouse red spider mite. Diseases: usually none.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Photographs

About the plant

Native range

Hainan, Taiwan

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Taiwan and Hainan Province

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

S. E. Asia

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Climate

wet tropical

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Growth form

scrambling shrub

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Perennial, Shrub; habit dense, irregular, rounded, vase

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Bushy (evergreen)

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Size

Height 120–300 in; width 48–96 in

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 years

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Flowering

Flowers red/burgundy; blooms in summer

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Uses

What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.

The plant has had medicinal, environmental and social uses.

NC State Extension, filed as Heptapleurum arboricola · read 13 September 2026

Common problems with Dwarf umbrella tree

• Yellow leaves
• Leggy, leaning growth

More of the Araliaceae family

• English ivyCrisp margins that appear in winter
• Aralia BalfourSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Coffee TreeSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• False AraliaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• FatsiaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Hedera colchicaSourced care, difficulty not yet judged

Plants with similar care

• Arrowhead plantEdges of the leaf blades brown while the middle stays sound
• Chinese money plantBrown tips on the newest leaf blades first
• Inch plantBleached patches on the side facing the glass
• PothosBrown brittle margins with a green centre
• Satin pothosCrisp margins that appear in winter
• Grape ivyCrisp margins that appear in winter

Sources

• ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
• Clemson Extension · read 13 September 2026
• Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
• NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
• Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
• RHS · read 13 September 2026

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.