My daughter has sent me two photos of a tree on her new property that she cannot identify. She's a new gardener, and I'm a tree-dunce myself. Can you tell me what this is? I'll send two photos, one a close-up and one a larger photo.
Thank you in advance!
. . . and this is a larger shot (somewhat blurry; my daughter sent this from her cell phone.)
Thanks again!
It is definitely an Arbutus. It resembles Arbutus unedo, but A. unedo leaves are serrated. Fruit has finer protrusions.
http://tree-species.blogspot.com/2007/12/went-with-family-for-picnic-at-montes.html
Possibly A. andrachne
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54751302@N00/94214157/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58237382@N00/2366376484/in/set-72157605648994007/
http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/3943096.jpg
It's very similar to kousa (or Chinese) dogwood, too, especially since the leaves have smooth margins, and the fruit sure looks the same as what is on my kousa dogwood, but the mature tree branching structure is different from what I'm familiar with in the Midwest. Both arbutus and kousa dogwood develop exfoliating bark, but arbutus is known for more reddish coloration. I'm not too familiar with arbutus as it is not hardy here. Did it flower for her in early or mid summer? The flowers would be a tell-tale identifying characteristic.
Actually, the more I look at your pictures, the more I lean to it being Cornus kousa, or Chinese dogwood. The smooth-margined leaves make it more likely, but the flowers will definitely be the deciding factor. Here's a quick photo of a leaf and fruit of my dogwood that I just picked. Don't they look remarkably similar to the leaves and fruit of your sister's tree?
Yes they do, Hoosier green. I've sent your photo on to my daughter.
I'm operating here in a completely different zone from my (limited) experience in the cold Northeast. My daughter's new garden is in the Washington DC area.
I REALLY appreciate you folks on the "tree forum" who have taken the time to help with this ID.
Opposite or alternate leaf arrangement recognition really helps eliminate WAGs.
The photos show opposite leaf arrangement, and the big old mealy strawberry-like fruit of Cornus kousa.
I'm with HG. That's a Chinese or Kousa dogwood, despite the color rendition from the cell phone picture.
Definitely Cornus kousa.
Resin
Since the tree produced the red seed pods, it must have bloomed this year. Ask your DD if this is what the flowers looked like. This is a picture of a lower branch on my Cornus kousa in June, zone 5. It seems to bloom like this every other year. This year's bloom was exceptional. The bloom lasts for about a month.
This message was edited Sep 8, 2008 8:30 AM
Thanks again, everyone. I've forwarded your answers to my daughter. She wanted to ID the tree since she has two doggies who lie to chew on things, and she wished to make sure that the fruits of this tree weren't poisonous. I can't see anything in PlantFiles to indicate that Cornus kousa has poisonous fruit.
You folks are great. Thanks so much. I'm so glad I discovered this helpful forum!
The fruit are edible; variable in quality, some are bland and a bit gritty, others can be very nice and tasty.
Resin
