Please help me to identify this plant

September 16, 2007 7:04 PM

What is this houseplant?

I bought this large indoor tropical houseplant yesterday at Home Depot, but when I got home, I realized it did not have an identifier tag on it with care instructions.

Can anyone identify it so that I can look up its proper care?

Photo of its leaves
Photo of the whole plant

posted by cadge to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

It looks like a Ficus elastica, also known as a Rubber Tree Plant.
posted by TedW at 7:12 PM on September 16, 2007

Best answer: I think it's a Schefflera.
posted by jquinby at 7:23 PM on September 16, 2007

Best answer: Schefflera as soon as I saw the photo. 99.9% sure.
posted by LoriFLA at 7:29 PM on September 16, 2007

Best answer: Umbrella tree. Schefflera thirded.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:47 PM on September 16, 2007

Response by poster: You guys are the best! That definitely seems to be a Schefflera, and now I've got all the care instructions.

Yay Team AskMeFi!
posted by cadge at 7:57 PM on September 16, 2007

If it has that leaf shine shit on it, you should wash that off so the plant can breathe.
posted by bink at 8:11 PM on September 16, 2007

Yeah, those leaves are way too shiny.

They are really nice, fast-growing plants though.
posted by Ostara at 9:57 PM on September 16, 2007

Response by poster: I don't think it has the leaf shine stuff on it. When I got it home, I went over all of the leaves with a wet rag to remove the dustiness from the store, and then later that evening I took the picture with the camera flash. That seems like it might be why it seemed shiny (though please post if there is a different way to tell if the leaves have shiny additional junk).
posted by cadge at 7:00 AM on September 17, 2007

I don't know from Schefflera, but thanks for tangentially introducing me to Flickr's ID Please group, wherein photos of mysterious things are identified. That's good to know about.
posted by mumkin at 9:18 AM on September 17, 2007