About Polyscias guilfoylei (W.Bull ex Cogn. & Marchal) Bailey
Polyscias guilfoylei, commonly known as geranium aralia or wild coffee, is an evergreen shrub species native to the paleotropics and neotropics. This species is not closely related to true coffee plants that belong to the genus Coffea. It has erect branches and can grow up to 24 feet (7.3 meters) tall. Its leaves are long and 1-pinnate, with opposite leaflets. The leaf blades vary in shape, but are most often ovate or elliptic with coarse dentate or lacerate margins. Leaves are commonly variegated with white or pale yellow margins, though they can also be entirely dark green. Small, unremarkable flowers grow in green umbels, and these flowers may be followed by black berries. The cultivar 'Victoriae', which has heavily variegated jagged leaves in white and green, has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Polyscias guilfoylei cannot tolerate temperatures below 15 °C (59 °F), so it must be grown under glass year-round in temperate regions.
