Brassaia actinophylla (syn. Schefflera actinophylla), also known as Schefflera, Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree, and Australian Ivy Palm is a decorative evergreen tree commonly grown in mild to warm climates. Capable of growing to heights of 50 feet, its use is typically limited to larger gardens and/or use as a landscape decoration. The plant is prized for the thousands of dull red flowers it produces when in bloom, a process that begins in early summer and continues for several months. Aside from being a colorful addition to the landscape the flowers produce large amounts a nectar which in turn attract a wide variety of honey eating birds and other animals with an inherent sweet tooth adding wildlife to the landscape. It is, however, an aggressive plant and its roots can dominate surrounding soil. In some areas (e.g., Florida & Hawaii USA) it is considered to be an invasive weed and therefore planting is highly unadvised.

The plant should be considered toxic as it does contain terpenoids, saponic glycosides (saponins), and unknown insoluble oxalates. The effects of ingestion, however, seem limited and the most commonly reported symptoms are loss of appetite and gastrointestinal upset (vomiting & diarrhea). In an isolated case involving a poodle, the animal experienced the aforementioned symptoms with the addition of ataxia and leucopenia (Spoerke and Smolinske 1990). The available literature reports no fatalities of companion animals from the ingestion of Brassaia actinophylla. As such it should be considered toxix, but most likely not life threateningly so.

References:

_{Spoerke, D. G., Smolinske, S. C. 1990. Toxicity of houseplants. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., USA. 335 pp.}