Help with ID of these 4 plants (2 shrubs, 1 vine, & 1 big fern?)

9 years ago

Hi there :)

I am new to gardening and attempting to make something nice out of the garden left by the previous residents of my home. I've been trying to figure out what these plants are with little success.

Plant 1 - a shrub with very smooth leaves. I haven't seen any blooms on it. It is around 3' tall, but the bigger, older stems have grown in a weeping fashion even though the new ones have grown straight up.

(click for larger images)

Plant 2 - a shrub, less than 2' tall. I thought this could be some kind of dogwood, but it doesn't seem right. I haven't seen any blooms.
{{gwi:2118587}}
{{gwi:2118588}}

Plant 3 - this vine is actually coming over the wall from my neighbor's yard. I do like it though, and was wondering what it was. It is the vine behind Plant 2. The leaves are quite big, and they have stayed green and on the vine. I haven't seen any blooms here, either.

Plant 4 - I'm not entirely sure what this is. The main stem is woody and curved, around 2' long. The non-woody stems are quite long, with the longest one just under 4'. The leaves are also very big, around 2' long. I haven't seen any blooms.

I live in Southern California and I've been here, at this house, throughout the last four seasons.

Thanks for your help! :)

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Comments (11)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
9 years ago
No 3 is a Hedera cultivar or species ie Ivy
No 2 is Pittosporum tobira
The last one may be Philodendron bipinnatifidum - but that is not a plant I know personally.
Embothrium
9 years ago
Elephant bush (Portulacaria)

Variegated Tobira (Pittosporum)

Ivy (Hedera)

Philodendron bipinnatifidum

This post was edited by bboy on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 14:48
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Fori
9 years ago
1. Looks a lot like jade plant. It should be blooming round about now.
2. I forgot. It's common though.
3. English ivy. Ug. Lovely but it gets around. Keep an eye on it!
4. Same as #2. I forgot. :)
llygoden
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks so much, floral_uk, bboy, and fori!

1 does look like a elephant/jade bush, though I wonder why it isn't blooming. Though, there is a similar looking plant across the street from me - that one is blooming.

Thanks for the Pittosporum and Ivy IDs :)

Philodendron bipinnatifidum definitely looks like 4! I wasn't sure if it was a tree or not, and that definitely explains why it looks like that.

Thank so much for the quick replies!!
RugbyHukr
9 years ago
"1 does look like a elephant/jade bush, though I wonder why it isn't blooming"

If it gets too little sun, it may not bloom. The new growth looks a bit leggy, so that may be an issue.

The ivy is likely algerian ivy 'Hedera canariensis', which is used widely in SoCal.
Embothrium
9 years ago
Jade plant doesn't produce long, arching branches.
missingtheobvious
9 years ago
As bboy said, 1 is a Portulacaria (I think probably Portulacaria afra). It is Elephant Bush, Elephant Food, and various other nicknames, and is sometimes called Dwarf Jade, but it is not truly a jade -- jades are in the Crassula genus, a different genus of succulents. [Though they resemble each other, Jade plants and Portulacaria afra are not in the same genus, not in the same family, and not even in the same order. They are distant cousins at best.]

Here's some info about P. afra:
http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1314
Fori
9 years ago
Jade can arch, probably depending on the sun and water. But this plant does look a lot like the elephant plant. Which looks a lot like jade. :)

I have a couple old jades that grew in proper upright jade style until we installed irrigation and accidentally watered the things. They plumped up and couldn't support their fat juicy branches anymore. They flopped into arches.
nancy_in_venice_ca Sunset 24 z10
9 years ago
Regarding the ivy, it it's coming over the wall, and not yet rooted in your yard, please don't let it touch ground and establish itself. You'll spend a lot of time trying to keep it contained in a few years if it roots in one of your beds.

Southern California generally doesn't have cold enough winters to put a brake on ivy's strong growth.
missingtheobvious
9 years ago
Portulacaria stems change color as they age, from green to red-brown. Jade stems change from green to gray-tan as they age. This is the easiest difference to see.

Portulacaria leaves are thinner than jade leaves, also smaller than jade leaves. [Although some jade cultivars have smaller leaves, I believe those are still larger than Portulacaria leaves.]

Also, the leaf scars (marks where leaves have dropped off) differ.
llygoden
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you so much for such a wealth of information!!

Help with ID of these 4 plants (2 shrubs, 1 vine, & 1 big fern?)

Comments (11)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Embothrium

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Help with ID of these 4 plants (2 shrubs, 1 vine, & 1 big fern?)

Comments (11)

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llygodenOriginal Author

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