Plant List Week 07

Question 1

Answer 1

Calocedrus decurrens

Incense Cedar

Cupressaceae

Look for:

• Flat sprays of foliage made of overlapping scales.
• Bark is a dry, reddish brown.
• Distinctive cones look like the bill of a duck.
• Developing cones are green and closed. Mature cones turn brown and open to release seeds.
• Looks healthier in Oregon.

Question 2

Answer 2

Jeniperis x media ‘Pfitzeriana’

Pfitzer Juniper

Cupressaceae

Look for:

Soft rope-like branchlets arising in all directions from larger stems, as in the second image below.

Question 3

Answer 3

Juniperus sabina ‘Tamariscifolia’

Tam Juniper

Cupressaceae

Look for:

often has some juvenile leaves that are awl-shaped instead of scale-like adult leaves.

Question 4

Answer 4

Platycladus orientalis ‘Aureus’

Golden Arborvitae

Cupressaceae

Look for:

• Flat vertical sprays of gold/green foliage.
• Plentiful waxy bluegreen female cones with thorns.

Question 5

Answer 5

Afrocarpus gracilitor

African Fern Pine

Podocarpaceae

Look for:

• This is sometimes put in the same genus as Kusamaki and sold as “Podocarpus gracilior”.
• Considered to be a very clean, trouble-free (if somewhat boring) tree.
• The leaf structure is irregular, but individual leaflets are narrow, glossy, and linear, with little or no petiole.
• Hmm…. Not much else to say.

Question 6

Answer 6

Podocarpus macrophyllus

Kusamaki

Podocarpaceae

Look for:

• Grows to 50 feet high.
• Bright green leaves are 4 inches long.
• Can be grown in a container.
• Young stems are green and flexible enough to espalier.

Question 7

Answer 7

Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’

Royal Purple Smoke Tree

Anacardiaceae

Look for:

• Leaves are elliptic and held out on long petioles.
• The ‘Royal Purple’ variety is widely planted because of the striking purple foliage.
• Called “smoke tree” because the clusters of flowers in the springtime look like puffs of smoke.

Question 8

Answer 8

Pistacia atlantica

Mount Atlas Pistache

Anacardiaceae

Look for:
- mostly odd-pinnate compound leaves,
and
- very colorful fruits in autumn (on the female trees).

Question 9

Answer 9

Schinus polygamous

Hulgen

Anacardaceae

Look for:

• Yellow green leaves appear in irregular clumps along the stem.
• One of those plants whose virtues remain undiscovered by the web czar.

Question 10

Answer 10

Nicotiana spp.

Flowering Tobacco

Solanaceae

Look for:
- a short, bushy plant (1 to 2 feet high),
- a basal rosette of wrinkled leaves with winged petioles,
- upper leaves that have no petioles and clasp the stem,
and
- brightly colored flowers with long corolla tubes that flare into five-pointed stars.

Question 11

Answer 11

Petunia hybrida

Petunia

Solanaceae

Look for:
- low-growing bedding or container plants,
- opposite, light green, fuzzy leaves,
and
- large showy flowers with five petals fused into a trumpet-shaped corolla.

Question 12

Answer 12

Solanum jasminoides

Potato Vine

Solanaceae

Look for:
- a climbing evergreen vine,
- dark green elliptic leaves,
and
- star-shaped white flowers with yellow anthers in the middle.

Question 13

Answer 13

Nerium oleander

Oleander

Apocynaceae

Look for:
- narrow, eliptic leaves grouped in whorls of three around the stem,
- parallel secondary leaf veins,
and
- showy single or double flowers that are red, white, pink, or violet.

Question 14

Answer 14

Trachelopsermum jasminoides

Star jasmine

Apocynaceae

Look for:
- opposite, elliptic, shiny-green leaves,
- small, fragrant, white flowers formed of five narrow petals,
and
- the usual “propellor” flower structure found in Apocynaceae. (Compare to Vinca major,Vinca minor, and Nerium oleander.)

Question 15

Answer 15

Albizia julibrissin

Silk Tree

Fabaceae

Look for:
- finely divided, bi-pinnately compound leaves,
- pairs of leaflets on the secondary axis fold together in the evening and open in the morning,
and
- large “puffs” of apetalous pink and white flowers in the summertime.

Question 16

Answer 16

Genista aetnensis

Mt. Etna Broom

Fabaceae

Look for:
- a large shrub or small tree,
- yellow, papillionaceous flowers,
- only a few very small leaves,
and
- the standard “broom” foliage of stiff, green stems.

Question 17

Answer 17

Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis

Honey Locust

Fabaceae

Look for:
- a tree with flat, gray bark that splits apart and curls outwards as the trunk expands,
- horizontal rows of lenticils (“dots”) along the trunk that look like Morse code,
- long legumes that are reddish-green and straight at first and then curl as they dry to a dark brown,
and
- a mixture of pinnately- and bipinnately-compound leaves.

Question 18

Answer 18

Prosopis spp.

Agentine Mesquite

Fabaceae

Question 19

Answer 19

Geranium incanum

Carpet Geranium

Geraniaceae

Look for:
- a mound of airy, finely-dissected foliage,
and
- showy purple flowers.

Question 20

Answer 20

Pelargonium x domesticum

Martha Washington Geranium

Geraniaceae

Look for:
- purple or violet flowers composed of five petals,
- dark splotches appearing on the upper two petals,
and
- heart-shaped leaves with coarsely dentate margins.

Question 21

Answer 21

Pelargonium x hortorum

Geranium

Geraniaceae

Look for:
- thick, succulent stems,
- heart-shaped or kidney-shaped leaves with rounded teeth on the margins,
and
- showy clusters of flowers held up above the foliage on bare stalks.

Question 22

Answer 22

Pelargonium peltatum

Ivy Leaf Geranium

Geraniaceae

Look for:
- a trailing plant with dark, waxy foliage,
- rounded leaves with cordate bases,
and
- showy flowers in the summertime.

Question 23

Answer 23

Hydrangea macrophylla

Garden Hydrangea

Hydrangeaceae

Look for:
- coarsely-toothed leaves with acuminate tips,
and
- showy, rounded clusters of sterile pink or blue flowers.

Question 24

Answer 24

Hydrangea quercifolia

Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangeaceae

Look for:
- opposite, broad, flat, fuzzy leaves with deep lobes,
- cone-shaped inflorescences,
and
- a mixture of sterile and fertile white flowers.

Question 25

Answer 25

**Grewia occidentalis** ## Footnote Lavender Star Flower Tiliaceae Look for: - alternate, oval leaves with consistent, small serrations all the way around the margin, and - bright purple flowers with five narrow sepals alternating with five narrow petals.

Question 26

Answer 26

**Tilia cordata** ## Footnote Little-Leaf Linden Tiliaceae Look for: - dark green leaves with a serrated margin and cordate base, - small, white flowers with 5 sepals, 5 petals, and many stamens, and - a long, elliptic, green bract at the base of each flower panicle.

Question 27

Answer 27

**Clerodendrum thomsoniae** ## Footnote Bleeding Heart Vine Verbenaceae Look for: - a climbing vine, - opposite leaves with arcuate venation, and - showy flowers composed of white sepals and red petals.

Question 28

Answer 28

**Lantana camara** ## Footnote Shrubby Lantana Verbenaceae Look for: - a shrubby plant with some woody growth, - opposite, dark green leaves, - hairy stems, and - clusters of bright yellow to red flowers.

Question 29

Answer 29

**Lantana montevidensis** ## Footnote Trailing Lantana Verbenaceae Look for: - trailing stems, and - clusters of tubular violet flowers with a small dot of yellow in the center of each one.

Question 30

Answer 30

**Verbena hybrida** ## Footnote Garden Verbena Verbenaceae Look for: - a low-growing, spreading plant with hairy stems, - opposite, elliptic leaves with variable lobes on the margins, - a long, narrow corolla tube formed of five fused petals, and - a shorter, narrow calyx tube that persists after the corolla has fallen off.

Question 31

Answer 31

**Vitex agnus-castus** ## Footnote Chaste Tree Verbenaceae Look for: - a shrub or small tree (often with multiple trunks), - opposite, palmately-compound leaves with (usually) five leaflets, and - cone-shaped clusters of small blue flowers in the summertime.