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Polyscias fruticosa
Also called Teatree
In Singapore: Parsley Panax (Grown in Singapore)
Ming aralia is a slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree with finely divided, glossy leaves, grown as a houseplant or hedge and as a leafy vegetable in Southeast Asia. Keep it in bright light, water when the top of the soil dries, and keep it out of cold drafts.
Polyscias fruticosa, or Ming aralia, is a perennial dicot evergreen shrub or dwarf tree in the ivy family Araliaceae, found in tropical and subtropical regions. The plant grows fairly slowly, up to 3–5 metres (9.8–16.4 ft) in height. The leaves are tripinnate, with a glossy surface. Ming aralia is commonly grown as an ornamental and a potherb, valued for its culinary and medicinal uses.
Ming aralia is mildly toxic to cats and dogs if ingested. The saponins in the plant can cause gastrointestinal problems and drooling.
Ming aralia grows primarily in the wet tropical biome, native to the Sulawesi and Maluku Islands of Indonesia, New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It has been introduced to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Tonga, the Caribbean, Ghana, and Mozambique.
The young leaves are eaten raw in Southeast Asia with meat dishes, or simply dipped in a spicy sauce like nam phrik or sambal. It is known as lep khrut (Thai: เล็บครุฑ) in Thailand, kuku garuda (lit. "Garuda claws") in Malaysia and Indonesia, and đinh lăng in Vietnam. The leaves are also boiled in soups, stir-fried, added to curries, or beaten with eggs to make omelets. The taste and texture of the leaves have been likened to celery and parsley.
Balfour Aralia · Geranium aralia · Parasol tree · Shield aralia · Aralia
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polyscias fruticosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
