This tree is growing in a front garden in Victoria and I took the photo just a few days ago, in late July. It has smooth grey bark and is about 15' tall. Thanks!
Stewartia. I would say Stewartia pseudocamellia, but that usually has interesting mottled bark and you're saying the bark is grey, so that makes me wonder if it's a different one.
Thank you very much for your quick response, you are probably quite right. The bark is mottled, overall grey, now I think about it. The photos of the leaves and red stems on Wikipedia do look very similar but "our" fruit is much more pointed and elegant - perhaps not as advanced? I'll keep an eye on the tree in the next little while. Thanks again!
That's hard to do when you have only the internet to check on. Most of the bud photos that come up are Alamy stock photos, and there's no reason to think they really are the hybrid I queried. I do see a description in a pdf file at http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.e...as-small-trees-and-shrubs-for-all-seasons.pdf: [Stewartia x henryae] differs only slightly from S. pseudocamellia, but can be distinguished from that species by its oblong floral bracts that resemble those of S. monadelpha, its slightly smaller flower size, and the presence of two seeds per capsule locule. Stewartia pseudocamellia produces four seeds per locule, although two are often abortive. From S. monadelpha the hybrid can be distinguished by its ovoid sepals with rounded, ciliate apices, and by its larger flower size. You can look at the flowers next year. I'm not sure what is "ripe" for a Stewartia fruit. @Ron B, are these ripe now? @apashley, you can look up what capsule locules are, and cut open a fruit or two to see how many seeds there are.
I'd call them ripe when they turn brown and open. 6th green hyperlink has comparison photo. The Polly Hill Arboretum » Stewartia Resources
Thanks for this reference, Ron. That first link to http://www.pollyhillarboretum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/StewartiasInCultivation.pdf has good descriptions. Do I understand correctly that the description for S. x henryae, on what shows as page 80, says that it has a fastigiate (upright branches and a narrow) habit? We haven't seen a photo of the shape of the tree here. On that page, the link to Comparison of the seed capsules of the Stewartia species at Polly Hill shows the graceful attenuated fruit tips for S. pseudocamellia, similar to what is shown here. From that same page, the link to Stewartia L. (Theaceae) Vegetative Key to Species Cultivated in Western Europe by Jan De Langhe from the Ghent University Botanical Garden has a key, which in part says: I don't understand what "Lamina" refers to, or the "LS", and looking up a definition isn't helping me. Can you explain what that means?
Hello again, and thanks for your very interesting posts. Here is a photo of the bark at the base of the tree and one of the whole tree, which has been pruned quite a bit by the looks of it. We cut open a seed pod but it's too difficult to count the seeds at this stage. I'll keep an eye on the tree and will investigate further when the pods look ready. The leaf surface is quite dull, by the way.
