Evergreen, fast-growing tree, up to 12 m height, with single or multi-stemmed trunks, and greenish bark. Leaves are alternate with petioles up to 61 cm long, palmately compound with mostly 7-16 leaflets, these shiny, light green, oblanceolate, up to 30 cm long, and entire margins (or sparsely toothed when young). Flowers are borne in dense clusters that form a large, red, showy inflorescence at stem tips above foliage. Fruits are purplish black, round, fleshy drupes up to 7 mm in diameter (Gilman and Watson, 1994).
Related Farm Practice
- Light
- Shading
- Hosts
S. actinophylla has been documented shading out the threatened species nodding pinweed (Lechua cernua) in Florida (Langeland et al., 2008). In addition, seedlings of this species may germinate in the crotches or branches of large trees and in this case the plant will grow as an epiphyte that can strangle and eventually kill host trees (Menninger, 1971).