Sam, Clement, Resin and bboy, thank you very much for your answers. All three P. menziesii should be of almost exactly the same age. Is it a possibility that genetic variances between them caused one's bark to mature faster? It is quite likely that the third one is P. pinaster since that tree used to be planted on small scale for forestry around where I live. Thank you for the compliment, Sam. :) Taxus baccata is a conifer which is wild growing here anywhere; presumably because of its extensive use for hedges. Close to the one I found were numerous "normal" (single coloured, dark green ones) so this one catched my eye immediately. This one has smaller, more sickle shaped leaves which are green on the inside and bright-yellow across their edges. This post was edited by liopleurodon on Fri, May 17, 13 at 5:23

Interesting that all came up with Rudibeckia ......the link shows a plant with a red center . This does not have a red center it is definitely brown . I wish I could add a full plant pic but it is my friend's plant and she lives quite a distance away so I don't think I will be down that way soon . Anyway thanks for the suggestions.

Stickley oak park is similar but not identical back.

"I know this is an old post, but I didn't see anyone mentioning that when a cutting of a variegated sans is rooted, the plant that subsequently grows is the species plant. That's why those sans look weird. To get the same plant as the original, a portion of the rhizome needs to be included with the leaf." I'm having trouble squaring this statement with the fact that both leaf and root are parts of the same clone and genetically identical. How can they produce genetically different plants? If you take leaf cuttings you get duplicate plants, not different ones. https://www.rhs.org.uk/propagation/leaf-cuttings