It's a Schefflera (brassaia, common name Umbrella Tree. A very nice tree that can grow 8' tall w/proper light, fresh air, humidity and bright light..Toni

Is a money tree and a scheff the same thing? I ask because I saw one that looks quite similar.

Tracy

Trace, they're two differnt plants..I can't recall the botanical name of money tree, and it's right at the tip of my tongue..lol
The Scheff's common name is usually Autralian Umbrella Tree or just Umbrella Tree..
If anyone knows the Money tree's name, please speak up..lol..Toni

That is one HUGE Umbrella Tree then. She has those too at her house. How do you propagate this one safely? She would like to have a few cuttings from this for a friend of hers.

Rut, you think your sister's tree is large, you should see those growing in the wild..they are monsters.

Yrs ago, I had a Scheff called Castor Bean Sheff..My friend wanted a cutting, so I removed two stems..I placed one in water, the other in soil..both rooted..This was some time back so I can't give a specific time they took to root..
Another thing your sister can do is divide..That's probably the easiest way..since it's more a bush then tree, (of what I can see) all she has to do in unpot, carefully remove a section w/roots..The main plant can be set back in its original pot, the baby in, say a 4" depending on the number of roots.
Out of curiosty, is the Scheff a tree or bush? Does it have more than one trunk? Toni

The plant I know as money tree has the botanical name Pachira aquatica.

Scheffleras do get to be tree-sized (30 feet) in their native habitat, though obviously they don't do so indoors.

When the Money Plants get to be of good size they do look a whole lot similar to the Umbrella tree, the Money plants leaves are thinner however and they are not smooth and shiny (sp?) as the Shefflera's leaves.

Toni, "Out of curiosty, is the Scheff a tree or bush? Does it have more than one trunk? "
It has more trunk. It is a tree. It looks like that in the picture, because she had to cut it down some. The top of it wasn't doing to good.

Thanks Mr. Sub..that's it..How do they get money tree out of Pachira? Unless they're talking about expensive..lol

Rutlandite, Scheffs grow more than one trunk in the wild..I believe, but not 100% sure, that standard/braided trees are man made.
What was wrong w/the top of your sisters plant? Tell her to watch for mites, they're destructive little critters..Toni

I do believe it has more than one trunk. The way she has it in the picture, you can't see them. Hey, Laurie!
"What was wrong w/the top of your sisters plant?" you can answer this, just email me. :)

Here is what my sister says,
Hello, it only has one trunk. The leaves growing off of it are coming from the trunk. It bumps out under the bark like a vein then the leaves grow out from that. It didn't have mites. I had to cut it because all of the top leaves died from wind damage being on Sue's( my other sister) front porch (very Bright sun)and the transport from Ma's to Sue's then Sue's to here. There was about a 2 feet of tree with no leaves. It looked horrible so I cut it off. Since then it has filled out nice like a bush. Before I cut it there was only one off shoot on the bottom of the trunk and the top leaves.

Since, the tree was bare on the bottom could you have grown it as a standard tree? So, instead of growing bush-like, it'd grow as tree-like..one trunk w/leaves on top. What do u think? Toni

I bought two of those at Home Depot this past winter and decided to combine them (too many plants/not enough room)So I took them out of the pot, bought a bigger pot that would fit both of them and re potted them together, they didn't make a fuss at all. as a matter of fact they both had new growth within a few weeks after repotting and they weren't at all root bound. My sister in law just wacks hers off at the top, as far down as she desires her plant to be and sticks the cut off part in the dirt and gets more plants that way. Her stem seems to be a lot thicker than mine and maybe that is due to the whacking she gives it a few times a year.

O.K. now. My Boy Friend also has a ton of plants at his house. I can't keep up with what he has got for plants! LOL
Anyways, he had told me has has gotten a Scheff from my Mom too! I totally forgot! He told me it has become very lanky.
Not many leaves on it & wants me to have it. Along with a Rubber Tree Plant. Once it is here, I will take pictures &
write down all the nessesaries for the correct habitat. Maybe you all can help me with it?
TIA,
Yvette :)

I've seen one of these recently indoors that was HUGE. It was at least ten feet tall, and it's leaves were a foot long, and it looked exactly like my Umbrella Plant, except according to the owner, it's 30 years old. Also, the leaves have a slight serration to them, whereas my umbrella is smooth like most.

Do they get like this with age then? She seemed to have bought this plant 30 years ago when it was a foot tall. Or are "dwarf" umbrella plants actually bred to stay small and she has one that wasn't bred like this?