Hey there! After a ton of research i’m no closer to finding an answer to my question. I want to buy one of the beautiful, tall Schefflera actinophylla trees that produce the lovely array of red flowers at the top but all i’m seeing for sale are the ‘Amate’ variety. My research has led me to believe that ‘Amate’ is a smaller variety of actinophylla that is better suited as a houseplant. Being that I’m fortunate enough to live in San Diego where these bloom beautifully as fairly common outdoor landscaping trees, I want it for that purpose and not indoors so I want it BIG!

Being that it’s so hard to find a non ‘Amate’ for sale am I correct in assuming that the large trees I’m seeing everywhere are actually that variety? Is ‘Amate’ actually just a normal sized actinophylla if given the right outdoor conditions?

If anyone can help me figure this out I’d really appreciate it!