The hit of the day for me was subtle colouring of the Magnolia acuminata, way down at the end of the north garden. Speaking of magnolias, I'd been wondering whether I was looking at M. sieboldii or M. wilsonii in Stanley Park, where I know there are both, and today we found them conveniently planted next to each other in the Asian Garden, near Lower Asian Way and Soulie. This one is the sieboldii. [Edited: I've added Nadia's label photos] and this is the wilsonii. Nadia noticed the more slender leaves right away. Also, the Wilson is at the end of blooming, while the Oyama still has a lot of buds. This is timely - this Syringa zweginzowii 'Superba' is just about to open. It seems to be very special. It's the one with the darker flowers. The lighter flowered one is S. yunnanensis. The Cornus kousa outside the Garden Pavilion is looking spectacular now. I really like the thin red margins on the bracts.
I wonder if meaning acuminata as tapering gradually to a point in Latin refers to petals of flowers or to leaves???
May 31 not only highlights in the garden I would like to add some garden's photo. It would be not highlights but what caught my attention at this recent visit. Xanthoceras sorbifolium, just beautiful Two special maples what we don't see everyday and everywhere.So different flowers. First one probably has the smallest samaras, second Acer conspicuum Silver Vein. Conspicuum means 'becomes visible, attracts attention', what is true Cornus controversa(Giant dogwood) and Cornus alternifolia(green osier). Controversa means 'subjected to dispute, controversial, disputed, questionable', this plant is native to East Asia. Alternifolia means 'alternating leaves', this dogwood is native to Eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada Cascara, Rhamnus purshiana. I was thinking that trees like that are cascara but never was sure Dwarf birch. Betula pumila var. glandulifera. Pumila means dwarf. At first glance it is hard to believe that this tree is a birch, now I can see it looks like birch. Last one I think is from Styracaceae family, I couldn't find a tag
Re: May 31 not only highlights in the garden This is Halesia tetraptera, Carolina Silverbell. in the north(across the road) garden Without label I think something evergreen?
Re: May 31 not only highlights in the garden Douglas Justice pointed out to us the young fruits on the Xanthoceras, which will grow to about 6cm in diameter. The shell will split into three parts to reveal the seeds.
Maybe too many conversations in this thread? The "no tag" is the last of Nadia's photos in her first posting, that I mistook for Halesia, still no ID. Then I added a photo to complement Nadia's Xanthoceras.
The flowers look like what I see in google images for that. I don't know about the leaves, though. I would never be able to distinguish the flowers from what's shown in your Halesia photo. Here is a Photo of the Day posting of Rehderodendron macrocarpum. That article links to its entry in the Photographs forum. Is the accession number the same as what's on your label?
The flowers are different also. At the Seattle arboretum the fallen, woody fruits may still be present on the ground beneath the tree some time later.
Re: May 31 not only highlights in the garden Two weeks ago we checked the Xanthoceras fruits, but two days ago, we were so disappointed to find none!
I thought the leaves of Nadia's photo, last one in posting #3, looked different from the ones in this What tree? Alternate leaves, fruits pecan size and shape thread, but I guess it could just be something about the photo and the rain. If you don't think Nadia's flowers match R. macrocarpum, do you think the fruits in my posting are a match to Nadia's flower photo?
Are you saying that the flowering tree here is the same specimen as the fruiting tree on the other thread?
As an aside, Xanthoceras nuts are edible and delicious...the leaves and shoots are also edible. I'm growing a bunch of seedlings, with varying degrees of success, none as good as the one in the pic. What conditions is the UBC specimen growing under? It's clearly a happy tree.
Said to be a continental climate species, like a hot spot in maritime climates. I've had one for years, in a south exposure that is still dinky.
Wait a minute, I asked the question first! I understood you to say you didn't think the flowering tree here was the same as Rehderodendron macrocarpum, which is in the POTD. So I wondered if the flowering tree here was the same Rehderodendron sp. tree with the fruits in the other thread. I'm not sure Nadia remembers where the flowering one was. I think the fruiting specimen looks a lot like the one in the Photos link from the POTD posting, but there seems to be general agreement that that the fruiting one is not R. macrocarpum.
