Name that Thug???

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by Lyndajane, Oct 29, 2020.

  1. Lyndajane

    Lyndajane New Member

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    This shrub is colonizing rapidly by root and seed. Can anyone tell me it’s botanical name? We have a few local names for it...
     

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  2. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Lyndajane good evening and welcome to the forum. Looks like the Clerodendrum indicum or Turk's turban among other names.
     
  3. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Close. This should be Clerodendrum trichotomum, commonly seen around here. It has a different inflorescence shape, and the fruits are a little different from what I'm seeing of C. indicum, which I don't think I have seen in this area.
    I'm sorry to read of its bad manners - the flowers smell very nice and I've always been happy to see it. It's always been an obviously planted tree or shrub where I've come across it.
     
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  4. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Thanks Wendy, I was thinking about the trichotomum but thought the indicum was a closer match for the fruit. Interesting to hear that it is common where you are.
     
  5. Lyndajane

    Lyndajane New Member

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    Thanks for your response. In doing a little checking around for Clerodendrum trichotumum, I see the similarity which you refer to, so thank you for the lead. In no reference have I found this shrub referred to as unruly in any way, however, and in addition to this fact, in one resource I am finding lists of scores of known varieties..... the combination of these facts makes me think that perhaps the shrub that is causing me concern may be a sport of some sort or perhaps one of the many possible varieties listed. My 'thug' has taken over a bed which is 50' long and from 20 to 40 feet wide (a curve) to the point where several memorial trees (cornus kousa) and all of the underplanted shrubs and perennials are literally swallowed. It has even gone under the sidewalk and is self-seeding in adjacent beds. Fortunately its roots are relatively easy to dig out. I think I shall get started! Thanks again.
     
  6. Lyndajane

    Lyndajane New Member

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    Thank you for the welcome!
     
  7. Douglas Justice

    Douglas Justice Well-Known Member UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society 10 Years

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    Clerodendrum trichotomum can definitely be a little on the aggressive side. It has the capacity to sucker from its extensive roots, and in the right sort of soil its ramets can fill a pretty big space. I've always put the suckering behaviour down to the above-ground tissues being physically damaged, or to a shallow soil or high water table where roots are close to the soil surface. Sunlight penetrating shallow ground and reaching roots is often a trigger for suckering, but then, so is digging around, as one might do in a perennial border. Arthur Lee Jacobson, the Seattle-based plant expert suggests (in his useful book, North American Landscape Trees) suckering can also be encouraged by cooler temperatures—I suspect he means that a lack of summer heat leads to insufficient ripening of the tissues, which are then vulnerable to damage by winter cold. In spite of its faults (I find the smell of the bruised foliage close to nauseating), I like the plant, but I would only grow it where there is maximum heat, where the soil is undisturbed and deep, and where it could be contained.
     
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  8. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    I got a dense thicket of suckers after digging around. Otherwise what one typically sees is a few sprouts here and there, often with a gap of some distance between them and the source plant. C. indicum is seen growing outdoors in places like Florida and Hawaii and not Vancouver.
     
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  9. Silver surfer

    Silver surfer Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Oh I so agree with you.
    Yet the flowers are wonderfully scented.
     

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