Schefflera umbellifera

Schefflera umbellifera, the false cabbage tree, is a medium to tall tree of up to 20 m in height (SA Tree List No. 566). It grows a much branched, rounded crown.

The flowers are small, cream to yellowish, growing in large terminal clusters. They are followed by small (3 mm in diameter), globose, fleshy fruit that turn dark red, growing in lax clusters. The fruits that are seen from midautumn through winter are eaten by birds.

The species distribution from the southern Cape along the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coastal belt continues inland through the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo to tropical Africa.

The habitat is coastal and montane forests and forest margins. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993; http://redlist.sanbi.org).