I am going to challenge the idea of this being a schefflera - it looks more to me like a money tree or Pachira aquatica. First, the foliage of both looks very similar but the curvey, windy stems look much more like Pachira, which is often sold braided or the stems wound together. Have yet to see a schefflera grown/sold in this manner. And in all defense to Ken, there comes a time - revered, hereditary plant or not - that one needs to take some drastic measures. And this plant is a prime example. It will NEVER produce foliage lower on the stems....that's just how it grows. And you will be fighting a losing battle to ever get those stems even semi-straight. Your best plan is to cut the plant back hard. It will sprout out from the cut surface and you can root the tip cuttings to create additional plants btw, this process can be followed for either plant, schefflera or pachira. Purple, I do respect your opinion but a good gardener knows when to call it quits and when to start over or take drastic measures. These are just plants afterall - not pets, not members of our family :-) If it looks ugly and ungainly, it's not gonna get any better looking by just coddling it along.

I second the Jerusalem artichoke :-) The fuzziness is not always prominent and especially on the younger starts. Here is a link that might be useful:

Post pictures every place you can within a short distance of where she ran from. We had this happen with a pure bred Boston terrier. We posted pictures and handed out pictures with the words "LOST DOG-BIG REWARD" and our phone number. I figured that if someone who might consider keeping and selling our pup (or even just keeping him) saw this flier, they would call for the reward. Sure enough, the next day, we got a call. Someone actually saw him in our yard, called him and put him in their car, thinking he was "a stray" (yeah, right!). When we picked him up, she said that she saw our flier at the post office when she was getting her mail...and good thing because "several people she knew wanted Boston Terriers!" I believe that without the "Big Reward" on there, she would have sold him to someone. It was easier to just call us and get her "big reward". We paid $100 to get our pup back but it was worth it. Even if he had been chipped , which he wasn't yet...he was very young...it would not have mattered.

My own children are grown and married. I married someone who has teen children. Two daughters aged 12 & 16, and adopted son who is 14, and came to live with us after we had been married a year. My husband kept it from me that the mother wanted this child out of her home because he elbowed her in the stomach and slammed the car door on her arm when he was 10. The reason being the mother would not buy him a stuffed animal from Cracker Barrel. The kids are still the bigger problem, but the husband is an enabler for the disrespect and behavior. I started in counseling in March to figure out what I wanted to do about this confusing marriage. My counselor told me, that you should have called CPS to protect your own child, and CPS would have handled this out of bounds, renegade son of your partner. What transacted is indeed very serious. My experience can tell you your situation is going no where. Raise your own child first, then seek out your companionship. Even in that event it may not work out, then you will still be better off because you protected your own child. You do not have any control over how his son acts, you cannot control the fact that your partner wants him around. I will tell you the kids will always come before you, probably even after they are adults. I just had something very valuable stolen from the home. My husband is acting like it is "no big deal." And why should I call the police to report a burglary, and speak to the boy about what he knows about it? I should suck up the $2800 loss, and forget and live without it. Does this tell you how the events will go in your life in the future? Right now, I am trying to find a home, so I will not have to move my belongings twice, that is why an apartment is a last resort for me to consider.