Aralia elegantissima or Dizygotheca elegantissima (False Aralia)

Dizygotheca elegantissima or Aralia elegantissima, commonly known as False Aralia, is an interesting indoor and house plant known for its lacy leaves.  A close up photo of a False Aralia leaf provided here shows that it is divided into 10 or so slender jagged leaflets that are arranged like fingers of a hand.  The glossy delicate young leaves are the favorite in many homes because of the mixture of colors that they show - copper-like beneath and dark green on top with a touch of white from the leaf midrib.  As the leaves mature, their colors turn into blackish green or dark grey-green, they become broader in size, and they become coarser in texture.  Both young and mature leaves can be carried in the plant’s tall stems.  False Aralia produces Yellowish green flowers during fall and winter as well as round blackish fruit.

In many nurseries, False Aralia is sold while it is still young.  Nursery keepers take advantage of its interesting leaf colors at its delicate and young stage. This sparsely branched evergreen shrub exhibits an upright vertical habit making it a suitable accent or specimen plant or as a border plant especially when put in a sheltered corner of your home or of your garden. It can add a tropical touch to your interiors, to your entryways, and even to your gardens and landscapes when grown in containers.  You will love the shadows cast by its leaves on walls.