Identification: Catalpa lookalike

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by Pepe, Apr 16, 2010.

  1. Pepe

    Pepe Member

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    I have a tree that has huge heart-shaped leaves like a catalpa and has fragrant white catalpa-like flowers in late summer. However, it puts out small black berries rather than pods. What is it?
     

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Clerodendrum trichotomum. The berries are bright blue when fresh.
     
  3. Pepe

    Pepe Member

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    Thanks Ron. The Clerodendrum makes perfect sense; however, my specimen is a 10-metre tree with leaves up to 12 inches wide. Can Trichotomum get that large? Also, the leaves just turn black in autumn.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    There is no other candidate. Typical upper range 26' x 3'.
     
  5. M. D. Vaden

    M. D. Vaden Active Member 10 Years

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    Did you mean 26' x 30' ?

    The 26' sounds right. Some years ago, I was not sure if they got that big around here. But I've seen a few in older NE Portland around that height, and one at Seaside, Oregon.
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    3' is the stem circumference. When reporting tree records, listing height and stem circumference only is often done. When the average crown spread is included, it is often presented after the stem circumference.
     
  7. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    There are some photos of a tree in Stanley Park in this posting. The second photo in this posting is of the berries.
     
  8. growing4it

    growing4it Active Member 10 Years

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    interesting. I'm more familiar with the commonly used height x spread when describing the mature plant size and using stem size when specifying plants to order.
     

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