Heptapleurum

A bold plant of 12' forming part of the species-dense broad-leaf forest margins on the incredibly steep slopes of a mountain previously not visited by westerners to our knowledge. It was a long day's climb which ended in the dark with rain and wind on a bare ridge hoping the tent didn't blow away with us in it. Fortunately, after 20+ miles and 5800' feet elevation gain, sleep came easy! Broad leaves with up to 14 leaflets held on petioles touched in red. Cream flowers and black fruit on dendritic panicles. Proceeds from this offering go to support the mission of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy.

Alas, most Schefflera you have known and loved have been moved to other genera with just a scant handful remaining in Schefflera. Perfectly sensible for a very large genus spread over several continents. These are seed-grown from our plants from the recent first North American introduction. 

This smaller Schefflera is a very ornamental species from our collection northern Vietnam from a mountain previously unexplored by westerners. Loose panicles of presumed creamy flowers and black fruit. Similar but different to Schefflera sp. NV 023. Pretty cool! A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

Young plants of a rare offering of this graceful woodland species from the borderlands of China and Vietnam. Upright plants to 10' that rarely branch with expected Schefflera - we mean Heptapleurum - green leaves. Umbels of black fruit in a raceme. Hardiness unknown but let's start with not very. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

Our collection of this smaller species from an area little visited by westerners. This is an ideal species for todays urban gardens as it has a narrower and shorter habit than some tree types. Adaptable to sun or light shade. Terminal slightly descending panicles of whitish flowers followed by showy balls of black fruit. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy offering.

A reintroduction of this rare species that has been introduced just once by Steve Hootman in 1995. This is from the same population but does provide a bit more genetic diversity as the ones cultivated from the 1995 introduction come from just one or two plants. Hardy in Seattle. These are young plants. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering

A Schefflera of smaller stature with a need to please. This flowers when quite young with spherical clusters of creamy-white flowers followed by even showier balls of black fruit. Self-fertile, this handles the reproductive function nicely on its own which is all the rage in this era of the pandemic. A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering. Nice gallon size. Of narrow habit, this is a good choice for smaller, mild gardens.

It's difficult to talk eloquently let alone persuasively about a plant newly collected and how it will appear in the various seasons and how well it will perform in the garden. We don't know a lot about this November 2011 collection from a shrub at Lao Cai, Above Silver Waterfall, Vietnam at 2150 meters. We can say it won't grow in Des Moines, Iowa or Black Duck, Minnesota but it will likely be happy as a clam in Seattle. These are young but sturdy seedlings which will really need greenhouse overwintering this first winter.

At this young stage, they bear resemblance to Schefflera alpina and S. chapansis but since they were collected by Aaron Floden, we're smart enough to know that if he doesn't know than we don't know. It's kind of like that Donald Rumsfeld thing where there are known knowns and known unknowns and if we know we don't know than we know more than those who don't know but know they do. Generally I found little palatable about him but I did find myself defending him over this quote as it made perfect sense to me. Somehow seeing it in print makes it seem less defensible and my veracity more questionable.