Mysterious dots on leaves?

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by shelilla, Oct 19, 2017.

  1. shelilla

    shelilla New Member

    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Calgary AB
    I'm not asking this out of concern, but out of pure curiosity. So far I, or anyone I've talked to, have been able to figure out what these uniform "dots" are on some of my plants' leaves. My pitcher plant has them, which look brownish and and VERY tiny and uniform, but the most obvious is on the underside of the leaves of our little Crape Myrtle.
    Both plants are perfectly healthy so I know for fact that it would not be mites or fungus on either.
    I originally thought they were something like stomata, but you can't see those with the naked eye or even a macro camera, or like fern spores, which obviously wouldn't be on these plants but looks sort of similar.

    Does anyone have a clue what these dots are or could be? Thanks!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    800
    Likes Received:
    55
    Location:
    Jacksonville, FL USA USDA Zone 9
    Those leaves are "punctate" or have tiny little dimples. Some citrus and I think Vaccinium sp. (blueberry/heath) will have resinous glands that are about identical. Calgary is pretty dry prairie so I'd expect these are resinous pits. I don't see what I'd imagine were Lagerstroemia sp. leaves and yours have probably fallen for the season already. Crepe myrtles are not particularly resinous, though.
     
    shelilla likes this.
  3. shelilla

    shelilla New Member

    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Calgary AB
    Thank you a lot for the clarification, very interesting stuff!
    tbh I'm not 100% sure if it is a crape myrtle, I got it a while ago so my memory is kind of fuzzy, but I'm fairly certain it was unlabelled, came in a pot and was grown to look like a little tree. I think my dad said it was a myrtle and that was what I assumed because it'd take way too long for me to ever try and figure out what it was otherwise. But if it turns out not to be one, then this narrows things down
     

    Attached Files:

  4. shelilla

    shelilla New Member

    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Calgary AB
    Edit: oh wait, I just remembered! I think I found out a while ago that it was a Boxwood, not a myrtle! I completely forgot
     
  5. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    5,987
    Likes Received:
    608
    Location:
    Vancouver BC Canada
    Are you sure? It looks like Myrtus communis, Myrtle.
     
  6. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    800
    Likes Received:
    55
    Location:
    Jacksonville, FL USA USDA Zone 9
    Yeah, looks more like that than Lagerstroemia sp. While fall color can be lovely on crepe myrtle, people grow it for blooms that are reminiscent of lilac, and I personally don't know of any growing north of USDA Zone 6B. Calgary is likely Zone 4, or maybe 3.
     
  7. shelilla

    shelilla New Member

    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Calgary AB
    I think I found out it was a Boxwood by looking up topiary bushes like it. My dad once grew a myrtle when we lived in Texas so he thought it looked similar but when I compared the size of the leaves to pictures of myrtles it didn't look alike at all. And true that, myrtles can't be grown outdoors here. But even if it were one I'm growing it indoors so that doesn't matter as much.
    Yep, it's a tough place to grow outdoor plants here :P
     

Share This Page