Guess again

Thread two starts here; if you are a history buff, refer to http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/689716/

Who am I?

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)?

Cornelian cherry?

I was thinking it looked like it had alternate branching at first, but now that I look again I think that David is probably right and it's oppositely branched.

kman is kloser with Lindera, but this plant is not either of the guesses.

If you squint real hard, you might make out the alternate branching. A real Cornus mas-ophile would take David to task for comparing these meekly cream-yellow flowers to the gutsy gold of cherry dogwood.

To wit, a proud bloomer here:

I slink off into the dark, cold woods of Vermont hanging my head in shame... no danger of finding any Cornus masophile in these parts!

Forestiera acuminata aka Swamp privet?

Claypot:

You skipped over into the Oleacee; wrong direction and opposite, though style points for pulling out an obscure unused native. Here's a few more clues.

•resident of most of the eastern half of the US (Maine to Michigan; south to Florida and west into Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas)
•hangs out with the usual suspects, like Diospyros, Liquidambar, Cornus, Ulmus, Juniperus, Fraxinus, Asimina, Ostrya, Oxydendron, Carya, and Quercus
•terminal flowers
•picturesque horizontal branching, defined as sympodial

David:

No slinking allowed, unless you are ferreting out the spring blooms of this beauty.

Cornus alternifolia?? Fits on the picturesque horizontal branching, but doesn't it flower after the leaves are out?

Resin

Not C alternifolia due to wrong color and bloom time, also the twigs are the wrong color. Flowers look kinda like an Acer.

Resin:

You are correct in your description of pagoda dogwood's larger 2" flat-topped blooms flowering time, but this is not that.

David:

You are going to hold onto opposite-branched species like grim death, eh? It is alternate, despite not being the most clear in that picture.

Here's the full plant that the original picture is part of:

Wow, looks like Sassafras albidum!

LHDP:

The midwest dirt farmer with the keen eye strikes again. Sassafras 'tis.

The rest of the story:

Vv,

Midwest dirt farmer? Heh, thats a good one :-) So do I get to play now? Test your Acer keying skills.

Everybody gets to play; no ticket required.

Ernie, you've got dmail.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 1:30 PM

Per participant request, I've cropped out a hunk of the original image in an attempt to show off the buds. I don't often use the buds for id purposes so my images reflect that. I'm too lazy to squint hard and try to differentiate bud characteristics. It's nice to take a day off and laze about the house for a whole day, posting pictures!

Regards,
Ernie

Looks very like Acer cappadocicum, but that isn't widely grown in the US, so I'll try its close relative Acer truncatum instead.

Resin

Resin,

A. cappadocicum gets you 50% of the way there! There are a number of trees, like A. cappadocicum lobelii and A. caudatum ukurunduense, listed in van Gelderen's book on maples that I'd like to try out. Someday......

Ernie

Can't find any Acer cappadocicum hybrids, so I'll try Acer cappadocicum subsp. sinicum

Resin

Resin,

Your first instincts are correct although my sources may be incorrect/outdated. The Dutch maple fellas and a site on the net both list it as a hybrid with Acer cappadocicum subsp. lobelii as one parent.

Regards,
Ernie

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 1:51 PM

Does it have laticiferous petioles?

Acer x zoeschense 'Elongatum'

Vv is the winner! He even went over and above what I had recorded. The plant was labeled Acer x zoeschense at Cornell University. I don't know about the laticiferous petioles because I didn't break any to check. I actually misread the tag and thought that I had a Acer Xzoeschense on my hands. A rare and new plant, perhaps from China. When google showed about nothing, I dug deeper and found the real name. Habit of the tree is decent, perhaps a substitute Norway Maple since it is sterile. Notice to the left, a Kousa Dogwood Flowering. How common is that on the 21st of July? Closeup here: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/erniew/plants/CornusKousaSchictelsNurseryMidJuly.jpg

Regards,
Ernie

Forgot the picture of the tree.

Hi Ernie,

Resin,

As usual, I'm out of date. I can't keep with the fast moving taxonimists. Seeing how nobody has continued the thread for a whole 60 minutes ;-) I have taken the opportunity to post another mystery plant. Have you ever heard that Gen Xers are impatient? This was a new plant to me but I fear that it'll be easily guessed with the fruit.

Regards,
Ernie

Skimmia?

I'm going to guess a clone of Festuca arundinacea, but I can't be positive of whether it is Rebel™ or plain old Kentucky 31 because the picture above is so out of focus.

They might be able to help you over on the Photo Forum.

Am I right?

Well??????

LOL, I was on the phone with my dear mother. You're close Vv, real close! Try for a newer clone.

Claypa, while not skimmia, it could suffer attack from the Raffaelea or Ophiostoma fungus.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 5:37 PM

So something in the Lauraceae . . . I'll try Persea borbonia

Resin

And I thought Resin would be snoozing in GMT but with ears of a cat, he hears Raffaelea or Ophiostoma and pounces. Wrong genus though.

Ernie

It's only just midnight here!

Lindera benzoin?

Resin

Better guess:

Litsea aestivalis

Resin

Lindera is in the correct genus!

Lindera subcoriacea?

Resin

Nope. I hadn't researched the plant enough to know that it gets really nice reddish/orange fall color. And the Missouri Botanic Garden is growing it, just 3 hours south of me. Might be worth a shot with our mild winters we've been having.

Ernie

L. angustifolia

Claypa takes home the prize! Do you grow it yourself?

Ernie

Lindera angustifolia?

Scott