PlantFiles: Fern tree
Filicium decipiens

I live in Marathon, in the Florida Keys. I have 3 Filicium decipiens. I have had them for over 6 years and they have grown from 6 feet to over 12 feet with a spread of about 12 feet or more. So far I have had no seedlings sprout up. They have bloomed and have a lovely sweet fragrance but don't seem to attract many bees down here. Our soil is very alkaline with little nutrients. Their roots were under 3 feet of saltwater when Hurricane Georges flooded our property. I live right on the Atlantic side of the Keys with the ocean about 80 feet from all 3 trees. The salt water didn't phase them and neither does bthe salt driven wind. They were the least damaged trees on our property after the hurricane other than the Coconut Palms which can only be killed here by Lethal Yellow or the crown getting blown off. Drought will cause Filicium decipiens to drop a few leaves about once a year in the late spring. I feed them DynaGro 3 times a year along with a time release fertilizer. I also foliage feed them once every 2-3 months but they never seem to be begging for it, I just do it. These are beautiful trees and my orchids love being attached to them. Tropical, dark green, lacy shade tree. Fabulous. Very hardy. Very salt tolerant. Easy to care for and beautiful.

I agree with punaheledp that this a good-looking, symmetrical tree. I have several on my land, some up to 45 feet high, and they self-seed readily, forming a forest of seedlings around individual older trees. The leaves are pinnate, with 4 to 10 toothed leaflets, each leaflet 2 cm long (leaflets are longer on young plants). Small white flowers are born on leaf-axil pannicles (you would not plant this tree for its flowers). Fruit is ovoid, purple, and 0.5 inches in diameter.

There are three growing on our property. They do quite well....The keikis (babies) are kept in check when the yard is mowed.

Orchids love to grow nestled in the trunks.

This tree has a reputation for having a naturally nice shape, and this bears out with mine and others I've seen. It has an attractive fern-like foliage, hence the name (most commonly called "Japanese fern tree", though why Japanese I don't know, when, according to the research I've done, it comes from either India or tropical NE Africa). It grew wild in my yard. I moved it and have given in minimal care, and it has done very well. My only concern is that it seeded this year and I have seedlings sprouting up all around it. If I have to pull bunches of seedlings every year, I may reconsider my rating. Seeds seem to germinate easily. Here in Hawaii it is cosidered somewhat invasive.