Pate (Seven Finger) Schefflera digitatal
Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Subfamily: Aralioideae
Genus: Schefflera
Species: S. digitata
Binomial name: Schefflera digitata
Common name: Pate , Seven-finger, Umbrella plant
Pate is a small, spreading tree up to 8 m high with stout branches. The leaves may have from three to nine leaflets. The leaflets are thin and soft to the touch with sharply serrated margins. The inflorescence is a large, multi-branched panicle up to 35 cm across, with umbels of small greenish flowers arising at irregular intervals along its length. Each umbel contains up to ten flowers each about 7 mm in diameter. The dark violet fruits are fleshy, round, and grooved when dry. They are about 3.5 mm in diameter and take two or three months to ripen.
The sap of the tree has medicinal uses, and has been used to treat ringworm and sores on the skin. The wood was used by Maori to make fire by friction.
Seven-finger is the most common host of the parasitic plant Dactylanthus taylori. This is a root parasite which was known to the Maori as 'Pua-o-te-reinga', 'the flower of the underworld' or by Europeans; Wood rose.
Young Pate
Juvenile leaves of Pate
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