Fatsi, Japanese Paper Plant, False Caster Oil
Japanese Aralia
Latin Name : Fatsia japonica
Belonging to the same family as Ivy – Araliaceae – and with a multitude of confusing Common Names, Fatsia japonica is a potentially large evergreen shrub with large, deeply cut Palmate leaves. It’s a slow grower, however once it has established it can become quite large with a good spread. It does best in light shade if possible and lends a ‘Tropical’ feel you the garden. Tolerant of being cut hard back.
The flower is similar in construction to that of an Ivy – as you might expect- except that they are formed on branching spikes and are both a surprise and impressive and give a fluffy white appearance when they immerge in October.
There are several variegated varieties – this one is called ‘Spider’s Web’.
Out of interest, there is a Bigeneric Hybrid between the Irish Ivy and a variety of Fatsia japonica called X Fatshedera lixei, and is sometimes call the ‘Tree Ivy’. It’s a useful plant for groundcover and can even be trained up a pergola or something similar, providing you give it support.
And lastly, this is X Fatshedera lizei ‘Variegata’ – impressively variegated.