Schefflera Amate: A Beautiful "Jurassic Park" Houseplant

If you want an easy, fast-growing plant that really makes a statement, then look no further. Schefflera Amate’s glossy, rich green leaves and impressive size are what make it so popular. Here’s how to care for this bold and beautiful houseplant known simply as Amate, or Umbrella Tree.

When I was an interior plantscaper many years ago, the predecessor (or parent) of this plant was known as Tupidanthus calyptratus, or in common speak, Umbrella Tree and/or Mallet Flower.

These days its name is Schefflera pueckleri and you can find it sold in the exterior trade along with the Schefflera actinophylla. They are very similar. Confusing but both get up to 40′ tall so best to have them growing outside otherwise they’ll take over your living room.

Some Of Our General Houseplant Guides For Your Reference:

How to Care for Schefflera Amate

The Schefflera Amate was developed from tissue culture and has replaced the above monsters for interiors. Because of the more compact form, it’s much better suited to our indoor worlds. You don’t need to have an atrium to grow it. Think of it as the younger, shorter brother. You can see it up close and personal in the video we shot in the greenhouses where the photos for our houseplant care book were taken.

Here’s the Tupidanthus in the great outdoors here in Santa Barbara. A bit too vigorous for the average home!

Although Scheffleras love humidity, they are quite tolerant of the dry air our homes are notorious for having. The large glossy leaves, which resemble a hand with the fingers spread out, don’t seem to get as many brown tips as the leaves of other houseplants. Both indoors and outdoors, the Amates are great in containers.

See what I mean? These ginormous leaves make a statement.

We did a video for you about these tropical rainforest beauties which you’ll find at the end of this post. Here’s what you need to know about the Schefflera Amate before you buy one and also what you need to do to keep it going strong:

Size

As a houseplant, it generally stays smaller than 10′ tall. This is not a narrow plant so make sure you have the space for it.

Light

Medium. Amates like it nice & bright but no direct, burning sun. They actually tolerate a lower light level than their predecessors the Tupidanthus’. Give them a spin every now & then because like all plants, they grow towards the light.

Watering

Also, like the majority of houseplants, average. They need well-drained soil & their leaves will turn black if overwatered & kept soaking wet. A good drink every 10-14 days should do it. I’m going to do a video & blog post soon about watering houseplants so stay tuned.

Fertilizer

I give most of my houseplants a light application of worm compost with a light layer of compost over that every spring. Easy does it – 1/4 to 1/2? layer of each for a larger sized houseplant. Read about my worm compost/compost feeding right here.

The Amate in the grower’s greenhouse. The leaves will be cleaned off with water to shine them up before being sent out into the world.

Pruning

You can tip prune it twice a year to keep it size in check as it grows. Schefflera Amates can also be pruned hard if need be.

Propagation

By tip cuttings (the green stems) or by air layering.

Pests

Scale, mealy bug & spider mite. The Amates have been bred to be most resistant to mite.

I really like these plants and fortunately for you, they’re pretty easy to find. To learn more about Schefflera Amates and other fabulous houseplants, be sure to check out our book, Keep Your Houseplants Alive. This one will really give your home a tropical rainforest, jungle feel – look out for swinging monkeys!

A hole was cut in the roof so this Schefflera (Tupidanthus) has room to grow. Actually, which came 1st, the plant or the building?

A Schefflera hedge which is not looking its best due to our drought.

Here’s the video shot in a commercial greenhouse:

This post may contain affiliate links, you can read our policies here.

About the Author
Latest Posts

Nell Foster

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.

www.joyusgarden.com/about/

48 Comments

Hi Jennifer – Yes, this is a beautiful plant. According to the ASPCA site, it’s considered to be toxic & causes oral irritation to both cats & dogs. I have 2 kitties & fortunately they leave plants alone. Nell

Hi Nell, some of the leaves on my Schefflera plant turned brown last summer while I was away and hubby over watered it (all my plants were sitting in water when I got home :O like he forgot to water for several weeks and then overcompensated the watering the day before my return). It seems to be under control again and giving me some nice new growth but the browned leaves will never turn green again, should I cut the entire branch off (these were the maturest of the branches) that had browned leaf tips or just cut the section of each leaf that’s browned? Also, whats the best soil for this plant?

Hi Eman – The best mix for this plant is a rich potting soil (not planting mix or garden soil) which drains well. I use a good quality organic potting soil for my indoor plants. I also add in a little worm castings & compost because I don’t use fertilizers. Yes, the browned leaves will never turn green again. How you prune it depends on how you want it to look in the future. If there are no leaves on the branches, then you can cut them off. Nell

My plant has sal circular orangy dots… I don’t see any moving bugs but think that the spots are multiplying.

Sally – Sounds like it could be leaf spot, which is a fungal disease. Nell

I live in Florida and transplanted a potted Schefflera two years ago.. It is now over 10 feet tall. Last week tons of leaves turned light brown and dropped. I haven’t had this problem before, it has just grown and grown. Why would this happen all of a sudden with no apparent change?

Hi Karen – Brown leaves on plants are common & there could be many causes. As the plant grows & the crown gets larger, it shades the underside of the plant causing lots of leaves to brown & fall off. Or, it could be too dry because the plant is getting potbound. Any sudden change in temps, environment or watering can do that too. Hope that helps, Nell

Nell,
Thanks for all the info!! My Amata recently starting looking
G a bit off. All the lower leaves are slowly turning yellow and slowly falling off and leaves higher up in the plant are starting to be “wavy” around the edges…what can be causing this?

Hi Yatti – You’re most welcome! I usually answer questions in regards to people watering their houseplants too much, but in your case, it sounds like you’re not watering enough. The yellow leaves & curling edges are a sign of that. I’m not sure how much you’re watering it, but you want to make sure to do it thoroughly so the water reaches the roots. Hope that helps, Nell

Help!
I am not much of gardener, we only have a few house plants that have survived the abuse of my wife. We do have one plant that was given to us for our wending 40 years ago. It was very small when we got it, maybe eight inches tall. The plant has moved with all over the country with us and has survived. Neat less to say it has a special meany to us, we call it the marriage plant. After some research the leave structure seam to indicate it is a Schefflera. It is now eight feet tall, it has to stems one is about 3-4 inch diam. the other one about 1-2 inches. The plant has hit the ceiling and curved backwards down to get sunlight. Its size has become unmanageable and I would like to prune it back but I am so afraid to kill it if i do! If pruning a good idea. It probably should have been prune many years agar. If i prune it how far back can i cut down?

Comments are closed.