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Does anyone know what kind of tree this is?

10 years ago


It's growing in Zone 5A, Colorado.

Comments (27)

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I've been googling.....I think it's a dwarf crape myrtle. I've NEVER seen one before and it's COLD here!

  • 10 years ago

    Crepe Myrtle usually blooms in the heat of August, and they are beautiful and in shades of pink, lavender.....can't remember if I have seen a red. The trunk on a CM is one of the prettiest ever....very smooth and light grey....also very easy to manipulate from shrub to tree, with more than one trunk as this one. I love them, and have not seen any in bloom here in So. Or. yet....even in the heat of Ca. Central Valley, they pretty much wait until everything else is weary from the heat....then put on a dazzling show. But....I'm a real novice here...just sharing my thimble-full of knowledge. (miss seeing you around, runner!)

    User thanked nanny98
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks nanny98......I miss you all as well. Wildchild visits often....:0)

  • 10 years ago

    If it is a crepe myrtle, there is a red one called "Dynamite". I've never seen one shaped like this before. I like it. I miss you too.

    User thanked murraysmom Zone 6a OH
  • 10 years ago

    Oh wow, I was way off! Ha! I can't see the flowers too well in the pics though. Still a super pretty tree!

    User thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Our development main drag is lined with pink crepe myrtle, and they are in bloom now here in southern California. We have a red one in the yard, and it doesn't bloom till late fall.

    User thanked sheilajoyce_gw
  • 10 years ago

    Hmm. Beautiful tree. That doesn't look like the crepe myrtles that we have here. Our crepe myrtles have been blooming for a month or two and will continue to have a few blooms for the rest of the summer into fall. I would look for a good local nursery with knowledgeable people and bring pictures and a leaf into them and see what they say.

    User thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    It's not a crepe myrtle. You can tell by the leaves which are a little more visible than the flowers.

    User thanked Amazing Aunt Audrey
  • 10 years ago

    Can't tell you what it is, but it's definitely neither a crepe myrtle or a bougainvillea. Leaves and flowers are completely different from either.

    User thanked colleenoz
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Is it a chestnut? Wrong flower?

  • 10 years ago

    I need to see better pictures of the leaves and flowers. Is it currently in bloom? Did you take the picture? How tall is it?

    It's absolutely not a crape myrtle nor a bougainvillea.

    User thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
  • 10 years ago

    Sorry to butt in, I saw this on the main page ... it looks like a Tatarian maple (Hot Wings). Very pretty tree!

    User thanked User
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Yes, it's in bloom "now". Height = 12' I took the pic from a distance w/ a point n' shoot.

    The red isn't a seed....it's more of a petal.....a maple could survive in our climate....maybe the petal hardens into a seed form as it matures?

    It's only a 4mp camera . :0) I blew it up....it's pouring rain or I'd run over and shoot another pic with a better camera....

  • 10 years ago

    Mizgg....I think that's it! Hot wings! Now I wonder why no one else has one.....?

  • 10 years ago

    Yes, it's a Hot Wing maple.

    User thanked moonie_57 (8 NC)
  • 10 years ago

    Very pretty!

    User thanked Annie Deighnaugh
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Wow, what a great tree! I want one. The maples here had huge clusters of these seed things this year but not as bright red like yours! https://goo.gl/images/NZDyB5

    User thanked FlamingO in AR
  • 10 years ago

    Now I wonder how hard it is to grow these from seed? ;0) Ya know I'm going to try...

  • 10 years ago

    Gorgeous and the first I have seen or heard of it. I too wonder why we don't see more of them. I wonder if they would like to live in Houston. We have crepe Myrtle every where here including in my yard, they are in full glorious bloom. I hate how some people have committed crepe murder by cutting them every year to disfigure them so they look so ugly. We were driving in an older area recently and not a single crepe Myrtle had been disfigured that way. They were some of the tallest most gorgeous trees I have seen. It was wonderful to see them as nature intended them to be. I don't know who the idiot was that began the mutilation but they deserve to have some trimming done on them. Mine are completely natural no hack job involved and I love them.

    That really is a beautiful tree is it near you?

    User thanked ravencajun Zone 8b TX
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Raven...it's just down the street..

  • 10 years ago

    It's not a tree that does very well in the kind of heat we have in the deeper south. It also performs much better in areas that see a long, cold winter.

    There's one on the arboretum-like campus here at UAHuntsville. Robert says it's been there for 20 years, but that it looks pretty pitiful.

    For those that live in a colder climate and are interested in this maple, the bright samaras will persist on the tree for a couple of months....a long time! Pretty fall color, too.

    Raven, I agree that Crape myrtles are typically ruined by poor pruning. It's a terrible shame, since a tree that's been left alone is stunning in the winter, a sight to behold, instead of a coat rack.


    User thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I've never seen a leaf shape like that on a maple. The petal looking things look like what we've always called 'whirligigs'. I believe they are they are the seeds. My maple tree at my last house had those, but not as many and they weren't red. My tree had yellowish/white whirligigs.

    We trim our crepe myrtles, but don't whack them back to the coat rack. We're attempting to shape them so they have a canopy up top to provide color and shade. It's funny, but mine are some of the best in the neighborhood. We've decided it's because we fertilize and water occasionally. So many people don't take proper care of their landscaping.

    User thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Here's some interesting information about the tatarian maple tree, including trying to grow it from seed. Cool tree. I've never heard of it before, but since it started in Colorado, it's not surprising that you get to have it first!!!

    http://plantselect.org/plantstories/hot-wings-tatarian-maple-a-tree-for-all-seasons/

    User thanked murraysmom Zone 6a OH
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Tatarian maple with red samaras does not automatically = Hot Wings specifically. That is just one occurrence of this feature. The example shown here could perfectly well be a random seedling or another named selection.

    User thanked Embothrium
  • 10 years ago

    From Ft. Collins! HA! I've never seen one before and it's so impressive! So RED! I see where Jodi commented about only 50% of seedlings having the red samaras. But she did get a tree to grow from seed! YAY! VERY cool!

  • 10 years ago

    Beautiful tree, never seen one like it. If it was me I would ask the owner very politely for some cuttings for rooting. Maybe next time when he prunes it. That way you would get the exact tree since it would be a clone. With seeds, you never know what you are going to get. You could get a tree that is a throw back to the trees they crossed to get this one and would look nothing like this one. And also it is faster to get a tree from a cutting than a seed. Or just ask where they got the tree and buy it there.

    User thanked caflowerluver