Thursday, Feb 4, 2010

Gen. 35, Psa. 35, Mark 7

It didn't clear off today but was wet and dreary all day.

At lunchtime, Melanie, Phoebe, Nancy, Jim and I went to El Tipico restaurant for a birthday luncheon. I had the chopped sirloin steak, baked potato, salad, roll and coffee. It was delicious.

Phoebe had made a carrot cake for us to have for dessert after we got back to the office.

Melanie gave me a potted plant called Schlefflera (or dwarf umbrella plant). I looked it up on Wikapedia and found the following information about it. It showed pictures but they won't copy onto this blog.

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Schefflera arboricola

Schefflera arboricola in cultivation
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae

(unranked): Angiosperms

(unranked): Eudicots

(unranked): Asterids

Order: Apiales

Family: Araliaceae

Subfamily: Aralioideae

Genus: Schefflera

Species: S. arboricola

Binomial name
Schefflera arboricola
(Hayata) Kanehira
Schefflera arboricola (syn. Heptapleurum arboricolum) is a flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Taiwan and Hainan. It also goes by the common name "Dwarf Umbrella Tree."

Contents [hide]
1 Growth
2 Cultivation and uses
3 Care
4 Aerial roots
5 Photo gallery
6 References
7 External links


[edit] Growth
It is an evergreen shrub growing to 3-4 m tall, with weak, often trailing stems scrambling over other vegetation. The leaves are palmately compound, with 7-9 leaflets, the leaflets 9-20 cm long and 4-10 cm broad (though often smaller in cultivation). The flowers are produced in a 20 cm panicle of small umbels, each umbel 7-10 mm diameter with 5-10 flowers.

[edit] Cultivation and uses
It is commonly grown as a houseplant, popular for its tolerance of neglect and poor growing conditions. Numerous cultivars have been selected for variations in leaf colour and pattern, often variegated with creamy-white to yellow edges or centres, and dwarf forms.

The umbrella plant lends itself easily to the bonsai form and is popular as an indoor bonsai.

[edit] Care
The plant prefers higher light if possible, but can adapt to a wide variety of light levels. As a tropical plant it likes moisture, but avoid letting the plant sit in water after you water it. It likes to be moist but not wet.

[edit] Aerial roots
Under the right conditions, this plant will produce aerial roots that, when they reach the ground, will convert to fully functional roots. They give the plant an unusual and interesting appearance. Three conditions must be maintained for the plant to produce them: a high growth rate, insufficient trunk roots (the plant is root bound or these roots are pruned) and constant, very high humidity.




After we got home, Richard and Melverie came by and brought a white cake with chocolate icing that she had baked for my birthday. We had some with coffee while she was here.

I got some more birthday cards today.