Tree identification

21 years ago

I have been trying for a long time to identify a tree I have had for ten years. An elderly lady gave it to me and she had it for 25 years. She told me she got it in Florida and that she was told it was from Australia. I can describe the tree so someone can possibly help me. This has become an obsession with me and I am on a mission to find about this tree that I have become so attached to. I had been caring for it for ten years and every winter I have to take it inside my home. It is quit large and very heavy in the container it is in but I choose to keep it. Following is a description and some things about it. I would really love to find out the name of this tree and whatever anyone knows about it and where it comes from.

My Tree is very unusual looking and I have never seen anything like it anywhere. I have looked on the internet hours searching for something like it.

At this time it is approxiametly 6 1/2 feet tall. It has wavy branches that all go in different angles. The foliage on it looks like marijuana plant leaves. It doesn't have a lot of foliage on each branch. After I put it out in the spring and it gets all its leaves it will then develop a flower type bloom that looks sort of tubular/figerlike and is red in color. After the flower is there a while it will produce a stem from it that grows a large seed on the end of it. I have planted the seeds and have grown more little trees. It is a very graceful looking tree. There is something that is very unusual about it in that if you break off a leaf or bump the bark hard it will bleed clear sap and when it hits a surface it turns red like blood. It likes heat and full sun but will not survive after the fall and I bring it inside before the first frost. We have temperatures here in the summer that get up to 100 degress Fahrenheit sometimes and is very humid. It doesn't like to be overwatered and if it gets too much water the leaves will turn gold and fall off. When I bring it inside for the winter the tree goes into dormancy and all the leaves turn gold and fall off. It stays bare all winter until I put it back outside again.

I would really like to know if anyone has any information on this tree. Thanks so much.

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Comments (17)

wombat
21 years ago
A picture is worth a thousand words. Can you provide a photo or two? Or use a scanner to provide an image of the leaves? It might be an idea to combine a common item (like a teabag, or non-credit card like Flybuys) to give an idea of size.

You can post the image on Gardenweb's Oz Garden Gallery - but make sure you tell us that it is there and what it is posted under.

I would also suggest that you post this message on the Australian Native Plants Forum - there is a link at the top of the Trees and Shrubs page.

Whatever it is, it sounds fascinating.
User
21 years ago
Hi Jan,

I am not 100% sure about this, but it sounds like it could be a Brachychiton acerifolius, common names include; Illawara flame tree, Australian flame tree and Flame tree.

Perhaps you can use this name on Google and see if you can find any information.

If you can't, please post again or email me and I will endeavour to find some sites for you to check out.

Please let us know either way....I'm curious!

Cheers,
Dee.
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It's hard for me to tell from that distance. Can you take a closer photo of the leaf shape? You may be able to ID it yourself by googling images of "Norway maple vs. Sugar maple" or similar. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/images/acpl-sa2.jpg http://homepage2.nifty.com/chigyoraku/worldleaf1.jpeg
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User
21 years ago
Hi Jan,
I'm busting with curiosity to know if you have identified your tree.
Pleeease let us know!
Cheers,
Dee.
urina
21 years ago
I have a tree in my front yard that sounds very similiar to the one Jan has. Unfortunately, I don't know what it is called either. Someone said a Formosa, but I don't think so. It is 10-12 feet tall and is several years old, so I don't think it will get too large.
It grows at odd angles. New bark on this tree is "furry", but the old bark has a smooth texture. Right now is has rust colored spike seed pods. New trees must come up from runner roots, as I find baby trees all over the yard. Has anyone come up with any ideas yet?
I live in central Indiana and presently the temps are in the 90's and very dry but doesn't seem to hurt the tree any.
Urina
trancegemini_wa
21 years ago
urina, do you have a digital camera to take a pic? or could you scan a leaf, flower, or seed pod and post it at our gallery forum?
urina
21 years ago
I will get some photos the first of the week. The weekend is so hectic I doubt if I will have time. I will let you know when I post them
TonyfromOz
21 years ago
The only plant that jan05's description brought to my mind is Jatropha multifida -- see link below. But I have never noticed whether its sap turns red when spilt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jatropha multifida
Thirty_thr33
21 years ago
Ok, this is very unorganized and I am just a kid in an adults forum, but I am very intrigued with the plant also and I found this forum on google, I wish to know the plant for the wrong reasons, to then grow the tree and prank my friends into thinking it is drugs. I made a quick piczo site with the picture I took, (The pictures of the plants posted in this forum did not look like my leaf)

Here is a link that might be useful: Here it is
urina
20 years ago
Hi everyone,

Sorry I didn't get a photo. Had camera problems, but I did find out the tree was a Staghorn Sumac (lots of photos on internet) To the above person, the leaves resemble marijuana, but the tree doesn't look like the marijuana plant.
jancol04
20 years ago
Is it ginger rodger? possibly a common name but my kids did play the prank on me by telling me it was marijuana.
let us know when you find out
jessicamarsh
20 years ago
I am in the same boat,
i bought a tree at walmart that says its a Tropical Bonsi tree, its leaves look like marijuana, i had a cop look at it before i walked out the door at walmart it was only 10.00 i looked up bonsai it def is not related , i have no clue how to take care of it, how much water it needs .
goldhills
20 years ago
My mother had an indoor pot plant that everyone thought was marijuana but was a type of Aralia but I don't know which. Looked very similar. I haven't got any photos to show but try a google search and see if one looks the same.
tejas55
19 years ago
I don't know what your plant is, but I found a plant (actually a tree) growing in the woods yesterday and I thought I had come upon a dope dealer's garden. Check out the pic. Don't know what it is yet but it has some kind of nuts on it.

Here is a link that might be useful:
tejas55
19 years ago
I'm posting a link to a pic of the tree I described so you can see the fruits that are on it.

Here is a link that might be useful:
tejas55
19 years ago
I uploaded the wrong pic. Wish I could delete my posts, but I can't.

Here is a link that might be useful:
zisalubarovwalton
18 years ago
Your mystery tree is a chaste tree.

Here is a link that might be useful: daves garden
geoffroc
16 years ago
I have 4 plants in my garden that I cannot identify.
They just sprung up about 6 months ago.
I have photos of them on my webpage -
http://geoffroc.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Plants_for_identification.
Can anyone help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Geoffs Webpage

Tree identification

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