Hello, thanks for the welcome email. I am not sure what this tree is. I have been told it is an ironwood, but don’t think so as no flowers or nuts ever on tree. Is it a different type of beech?
Wikipedia lists over 60 different genera that have the common name of ironwood. I'm not sure which of those you're ruling out, but one of them, Parrotia persica, seems likely to me. It gets very tiny flowers and fruits. I'm not certain about the bark on this.
Parrotia persica ..common name Persian ironwood....is one of my favourite trees. The bark is stunning. Tiny red flowers in winter. Glorious autumn colour. Don't think tree trunk matches Parrotia.
Thank you for the reply. This one has had no flowers in the six years we have been here. It certainly looks like the right leaf. Bark a little different, smoother with white patches.
thanks, I will start looking into all the other ironwoods to see if there are any that don’t flower and have smoother bark.
That it has not flowered in its current location doesn't make it a tree that doesn't flower. It's a flowering tree, just one that won't flower for you (as yet). That should not be a criterion of your search. I forgot about Parrotia having attractive peeling bark. Thanks for those photos, @Silver surfer. On the other hand, I came across this page for Parrotia persica, showing very similar bark and trunk arrangement. Persian ironwood – Trees of Vancouver I got very excited about the "Trees of Vancouver" name of this page, thinking that Vancouver Trees app might have moved to website access, but it is not that, though it's associated with UBC: It was created by Athena McKown, a lecturer in the Faculty of Forestry. It might help to see a photo of a branch with a few leaves, photo taken of the tops of the leaves and the bottoms.
Ditto to Parrotia persica. The flowers are in late winter / early spring, and are red, but fairly small, not very conspicuous: File:20170305Parrotia persica1.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Thanks to all for the replies. From further investigation into some threads from other forums, it would seem that it could take thirty years for it to bloom and start peeling. So I am satisfied that it is a Persian Ironwood. I think it must be about 15 to 20 years old… so will be happy if it ever blooms while I am living here. Again, many thanks.
No evidence on your pic of the glorious red autumn colour. We grew one and it didn't take that long to get the amazing bark. Please can you add clear close ups to show a twig now. There should be evidence of flower buds./seed pods The flowers can be easily missed in the middle of winter 1. Tiny buds. 2 and 3 . Seed pods.
I've read the same, even 40 years. But these reports should be taken with a dose of salt, they are often wrong - many young trees start flowering long before the books say they are supposed to wait.
Commencement of flowering by individual specimens of tree species is affected by variables including genetics, cultural history and propagation method. With in the latter case plants raised from seed often needing significantly longer to reach flowering age than clones produced from cuttings or scions taken from already sexually mature source plants. It is by such circumstances that it is rather routinely possible to find horticultural selections of species otherwise described as requiring decades to bloom being instead in a flowering condition in garden center sizes. Regarding the fall color of Persian ironwood notice that the specimen Silver Surfer showed is mostly yellow also - in my area the coloring of this species ranges widely from year to year, with not every year being 0ne where a kaleidoscopic combination containing a high percentage of red and orange is seen. This behavior is also mentioned in published references not originating in my region.
