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| I have a eugenia tree of some sort in my garden. It is at least 70 years old, and about 50 feet high. I have not been able to identify it looking at pictures on the web - there are way too many types of eugenia! Hope someone can ID it. It grows all over Marin County in the SF Bay area, so it is not rare.
It is evergreen, and it seems to bloom randomly all year, and also usually has berries (at the same time), but way more berries in the Fall. It is cold tender. The worst cold we ever (in the winter of 1990/91) almost killed it - our night-time low temps got to 20 degrees F every single night for 2 weeks. All of its leaves turned brown and it looked dead. Because it is "evergreen" the dead leaves did not fall, but stuck on. Charming 50 foot by 25 foot dead thing. My father-in-law, who was raised in our house, said to wait until the following Spring to see what happened. What happened was that it suddenly produced one tiny leaf, at about 4 feet high on the large trunk, coming directly out of the trunk. So, not dead. We had it pruned hard back to the large main branches, and within 3-4 years it had completely recovered and attained its prior height. So, does anyone have any thoughts as to what it might be? Thanks for your help - Jackie
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| You might find the same species on display, with signage here (link below). Among locally accessible major collections it is probably your best bet (for addressing this particular question). Pick representative twigs, with reproductive parts present to take and hold up next to similar examples encountered elsewhere, for purposes of comparison. |
Here is a link that might be useful: San Francisco Botanical Garden
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- Posted by jacqueline3 9CA (My Page) on Sun, Nov 13, 11 at 18:25
| Thanks, bboy - I did look at that site, but I had the same problem I had googling - dozens of choices, ALL of which said they were "small shrubs"! Maybe they are small shrubs, that no one every lets mature? I have an old picture from the 1880s of a house - it had a well kept privet hedge in the front of it by the street. The house is still there, and in the same place by the street is a row of HIUGE privet trees - 3 stories high, at least. Jackie |
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| What I was suggesting was going to the garden itself, and looking at the trees there in person. Or another large collection, if you are not near the Strybing one. Somebody a good nearby independent retail nursery might also be able to name your tree, when presented with twig samples like you have posted here. |
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- Posted by jacqueline3 9CA (My Page) on Mon, Nov 14, 11 at 17:29
| Thanks - we do have a good independent nursery in our town - I will try them. Jackie |
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- Posted by jacqueline3 9CA (My Page) on Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 12:27
| bboy - just wanted to thank you for the good advice - I did take the pics and fruit & leaves to my local nursery - there was a man there who was able to identify it in 2 minutes - it is "syzygium australe" or Australian bush cherry. It is native to Australia, and can attain 90 feet in the wild in temperate rain forests there! Evidently it was sold in this area for decades as a shrub/hedge/topiary plant, which would explain why I have seen so many huge mature old trees of it around my old neighborhood. (Now the nurseries sell a different kind). Jackie
Jackie |
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