Portugese Laurel/ prunus lusitanica: It is 45 to 50 years old and it is in full bloom for the first time ever. There is another identical tree in full bloom closeto the T intersection of Bartlett Court and Erickson Drive on the west side of the Cameron Medical Building (just northwest of Lougheed Mall in east Burnaby). The leaves redden before they die but I have not seen this information on any google searches. Are all of these trees locally blooming for the first time, perhaps due to global warming?
No, in fact the species is weedy here on the Pacific Coast - plenty of flowering and fruiting for years. On the North American market by 1871.
ok maybe its another species or subtype. one tree is at least 8 meters high and the other is much higher. can anyone recommend an online website that might be more reliable than Wikipedia, for the purpose of identification? many thanks.
There's nothing else around here like it. What does yours look like? I don't remember seeing any flowers down here yet, although late May-June is the typical season in Seattle.
Unless prunus lusitanica is pruned to keep it smaller, it gets tree-sized, at least in Vancouver BC. Two grew on the south side of the apartment building I lived in in Kitsilano. I was on the 3rd floor, and had to keep having it pruned so I could see out of the windows. In this location they grew as wide as they were tall, and flowered/fruited heavily each year. I am very familiar with the plant and have no trouble identifying it. The times I have seen the plant forgo blooming are when pruned to discourage it, or in heavy shade.
