Dizygotheca elegantissima is more commonly referred to as False Aralia or the Spider Aralia. The False Aralia is an upright-growing 3 to 5 foot plant. Its leathery leaves are made up of 7 to 10 slender jagged leaflets, each 3 to 5 inches long, arranged like fingers of a hand. They are coppery in color when they unfold, but then become such a dark shade of green that they appear almost black. When looking for an unusual showy foliage plant, aralias offer several outstanding choices. Grown indoors since for over a century, there are several very attractive forms of aralias. The name aralia can cause some confusion when you are looking at plants. Those plants that belong to the genus Aralia aren't hardy in our climate and are seldom grown indoors. The plants used indoors and referred to as aralias actually belong to several very distantly related plant genera and all are tropical in nature. Because they are so distantly related, the care of each type differs, making it important to know what type of aralia you are growing so you can provide what it needs. There are several types of Balfour aralia (Dinner Plate Aralia), Polyscias balfouriana, offering round leaves that are deeply veined, giving the leaves a crinkled appearance. Plain Balfour has large size, glossy, dark-green leaves. Its stems are also green and decorated by gray spots. Two common variations of Balfour aralia are 'Marginata' with leaves that are delicately edged with creamy white and 'Pennockii' offer foliage that is larger than the regular Balfour and is strikingly mottled with light yellow-green areas. They are excellent as houseplants in cold climates and as hedges in very warm ones. These plants are also excellent as Bonsai specimens. Other varieties : P. balfouriana (Balfour Aralia); P. filicifolia (Fern-Leaf Aralia); P. fruticosa (Ming Aralia); P. guilfoylei (Geranium Leaf Aralia; Wild Coffee; Coffee Tree) & var. victoriae.
