Schefflera octophylla (Lour.) Harms

A small to medium-sized, semi-deciduous or evergreen tree up to 25 m tall, bole up to 80 cm in diameter. Leaves palmately 6-8(-11)-foliolate, polymorphic, petiole 8-35 cm long, leaflets elliptical to ovate-elliptical, 7-20 cm x 3-6 cm, base attenuate, apex narrowly pointed, margin entire, glabrous, petiolules unequal, 1-5 cm long. Inflorescence a well-developed panicle with hairy branches; flowers in many-flowered umbellules or sometimes solitary at the top of secondary axes; flowers 5-merous, ovary 5-8(-10)-locular. Fruit globular, 3-4 mm in diameter, black. In the light of recent taxonomical insight, the species known almost universally since the 1890s as Schefflera octophylla (Lour.) Harms should be called S. heptaphylla (L.) Frodin. It is a renowned medicinal plant from Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.

S. heptaphylla is found in relatively open forest and forest edges. In southernmost Japan it occurs near sea-level; in the Ryukyu Islands up to 600 m elevation. Southward in the tropics its maximum altitude rises to 1200(-1400) m, or it even becomes entirely montane. Its distribution corresponds with the 20 deg. C average January isotherm. Exploited from wild sources as well as from cultivation, this species can probably be grown easily at higher elevations in the Malesian region.

Ornamental: In Vietnam, S. heptaphylla is reported to be cultivated as ornamentals and pot plants. Soil improver: The leaves and young branches are used as green manure.

Medicine: The bark is widely used in folk medicine for its diuretic properties and as a tonic. The ashes are sometimes used to treat dropsy. In Hong Kong the fresh branchlets are used as a wash to soothe itching of the skin. Timber and Fibre: The wood of S. heptaphylla is soft, light and easy to work, and can be used for paper, musical instruments and matchboxes. Adulterations and substitutes: Asiatic acid and asiaticoside have also been reported in extracts of Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., which is a pantropical species extending into some subtropical regions. Asiatic acid has also been found in ether extracts from the wood of Terminalia brassii Exell and T. complanata K. Schumann.