''Polyscias guilfoylei'', the geranium aralia or wild coffee, is a species of

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrub native to the

paleotropics The Paleotropical Kingdom (Paleotropis) is a floristic kingdom comprising tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), as proposed by Ronald Good and Armen Takhtajan. Part of its flora, inherited from the ancient ...

and neotropics. It is not closely related to the true coffee plants of the genus '' Coffea''. It has erect branches and can grow to a height of up to . The leaves are long and 1-

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

with leaflets which are opposite. The leaf blades are variable, but usually ovate or elliptic and coarsely dentate or lacerate. The leaves are commonly

variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the s ...

with margins of white or pale yellow, but can also be entirely dark green. The insignificant flowers form as green umbels, and may be followed by black berries. The

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

'Victoriae', with strongly variegated, white and green, jagged leaves, is a recipient of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. It does not tolerate temperatures below , and must be grown under glass all year round in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

zones.

Gallery

File:Polyscias guilfoylei 2.jpg Polyscias guilfoylei 4zz.jpg File:Polyscias guilfoylei 1.jpg

References

* Britton, N.L., and P. Wilson. 1926. Botany of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. * Wunderlin, R.P., B.F. Hansen, and E.L. Bridges. 1996. Atlas of Florida vascular plants. * Wunderlin, R.P., and B.F. Hansen. 2002. Atlas of Florida vascular plants. University of South Florida, Tampa. guilfoylei {{Araliaceae-stub