Plant List Week 07 Flashcards
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.
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.
Juniperus sabina ‘Tamariscifolia’
Tam Juniper
Cupressaceae
Look for:
often has some juvenile leaves that are awl-shaped instead of scale-like adult leaves.
Platycladus orientalis ‘Aureus’
Golden Arborvitae
Cupressaceae
Look for:
- Flat vertical sprays of gold/green foliage.
- Plentiful waxy bluegreen female cones with thorns.
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.
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.
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.
Pistacia atlantica
Mount Atlas Pistache
Anacardiaceae
Look for:
- mostly odd-pinnate compound leaves,
and
- very colorful fruits in autumn (on the female trees).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Prosopis spp.
Agentine Mesquite
Fabaceae
Geranium incanum
Carpet Geranium
Geraniaceae
Look for:
- a mound of airy, finely-dissected foliage,
and
- showy purple flowers.
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.
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.
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.
Hydrangea macrophylla
Garden Hydrangea
Hydrangeaceae
Look for:
- coarsely-toothed leaves with acuminate tips,
and
- showy, rounded clusters of sterile pink or blue flowers.
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.
Grewia occidentalis
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.
Tilia cordata
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.
Clerodendrum thomsoniae
Bleeding Heart Vine
Verbenaceae
Look for:
- a climbing vine,
- opposite leaves with arcuate venation,
and
- showy flowers composed of white sepals and red petals.
Lantana camara
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.
Lantana montevidensis
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.
Verbena hybrida
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.
Vitex agnus-castus
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.
