I live in St.Pete ,FL and I'm having a hard time identifying this tree in my yard and behind my property.I am attaching pictures of the leaves,the older tree and a younger tree. In the late spring/early summer the tree produces reddish colored fruits almost the size of an olive. Can anybody help me?
Look at web sites/books on Florida trees. There is a high number of native species there on top of all the introduced ones. If not a comparatively unfamiliar one you may be able to find out by taking a sample to a local independent nursery, too. A branch with the fruit or flowers present would be best, although perhaps not essential.
The opposite leaves and olive-like fruit suggest family Oleaceae as a possibility. How about devilwood, Osmanthus americanus?
I noticed the similarity in individual leaves to Osmanthus decorus. A friend had a small O. americanus but otherwise I haven't seen that one myself. The bark of yours also looks like Osmanthus, although none of the large-leaved ones we grow over here have such long, slender shoots. If that's what yours is it may be a record specimen, it looks big. National Champion trees are listed on web site of American Forests, if this species is treelike there is probably a champion listed for it there. If yours turns out to be bigger you should send it in.
My old 'Guide to Southern Trees' (Harrar & Harrar) says of devilwood: "A tree, becoming 50' to 70' in height, with a trunk 1' in diameter..." But it also decribes fruit as dark blue, which is at odds with robdevilcat's description of his tree's fruits as reddish.
You may be right about the color of the fruit.I had a hard time remembering the color of the fruit and asked a housemate. The diameter of the parent tree is aprox. 4-5' possibly more. I also looked up the osmanthus in my American Horticultural encyclopedia and the descriptions do not seem to match.?
