Q. Andrew: “How many Schefflera do we need?”A. Loree: “as many as Mark & Gaz have...”

A quick stop at Garden Fever last weekend yielded an unexpected surprise…a new (for me) Schefflera!

We stopped in looking for the next office plant component for Andrew, but of course I had to do a quick once-through the nursery and what should my wandering eyes discover but a Schefflera! At this point they’re still so rare it’s like spotting a four-leaf clover or a double rainbow. Schefflera brevipedunculata…

Of course a quick Google search reveals that indeed I have seen this one before (I love that Google has a better memory than I do), at Molbaks in July of 2011. Never mind that one was an expensive 5-gallon. This was just a 1-gallon at $15.99. Ya, $15.99!!!

I have no idea where it will go but in instances like this you grab now, and think later; hopefully it can be happy in a container until I find a place for it in the ground. I love its strange leaf pattern of 7(ish) larger leaves on the bottom and 3(or so) smaller ones held above.

This raises the Schefflera species count to 3 (S. delavayi = 1, S. taiwaniana = 3, S. brevipedunculata = 1). Obviously I have a way to go before I can reach Mark and Gaz’s total of 6? 7? 8 different species, what is you guy's count? And why are they so much easier to find in England?

***new information, I just read this on the Monrovia website: "Newly recognized in the Flora of China, the name of Schefflera brevipedunculata is a work in progress. A close ally to Schefflera alpiinia this unique shrub may indeed prove to be a variety of it."***

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