I.D. a tree for me?

This tree has been growing beside my driveway for several years. Last year was the first time it had blooms ( only about 6). This year it has 30 or 40 blooms. It's about 10-12 ft tall. Sorry the pictures aren't great.

To species? No, sorry, not with any certainty, especially since you're in a different ecozone.

To genus, I would go for Prunus (cherries and allies). I'm seeing development of the lateral striations you see on mature cherry trees on the trunk.

Keep, at least until it fruits.

Thanks Neil. I would love it if it were a type of cherry. I'll definitely be keeping it.

based upon the shape of the blossom
i vote for juneberry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier

http://www.eattheweeds.com/amelanchier-arborea-busting-out-all-over-2/

note the leaf shape also, very distinctive



see for comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom


juneberries are also a very good fruit,
although you may have to shoot the robins to get any

Beautiful, whatever it is...The petals seem too long and numerous for apple, pear or cherries that I recognize. Also apples and cherries generally bloom after leafing out. Pears do flower before leafing out though.

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/identify/trees/ - nice list many with pics
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whattree/ - good resource if you know leaf structure etc.

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/identify/trees/sweet-bay.htm - maybe? No, the flowers are too small it seems for this.

Good luck!

duane hennon wrote:

based upon the shape of the blossom
i vote for juneberry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier

http://www.eattheweeds.com/amelanchier-arborea-busting-out-all-over-2/

note the leaf shape also, very distinctive



see for comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom


juneberries are also a very good fruit,
although you may have to shoot the robins to get any

Possibly. It's not a genus I'm particularly familiar with, except rarely in parklands. The few species I'm familiar with have leaves before they flower, which is why I ruled it out, but I agree the inflorescence matches Amelanchier better than Prunus.

I update my recommendation: keep, and let us know what the fruit is like.

AmberLynn Gairden wrote: Also apples and cherries generally bloom after leafing out.

Not the ones in my garden. That's one of the reasons I thought Prunus - I do know a few with longer petals.

Still open to being very wrong, though. I'd love to see what the fruit are like.

Looks like a Amelanchier to me. Couldn't tell you which species. Common names are Serviceberry, Juneberry or Shadbush. Tasty berries if you can beat the birds to them!

Not the ones in my garden. That's one of the reasons I thought Prunus - I do know a few with longer petals.

That's why I love this forum. I learn from outside my own experience!

AmberLynn Gairden wrote:

Not the ones in my garden. That's one of the reasons I thought Prunus - I do know a few with longer petals.

That's why I love this forum. I learn from outside my own experience!

I've been wrong before, undoubtedly will be again, and accept a definite possibility this is one of those times. It's often tricky without leaves and fruit to go on, and I have only my experience. Amelanchier is unusual here. I thought Amelanchier put on leaves before flowers, but only based on that limited experience.

I think it's probably a Prunus, but I have a list of caveats, of which several have been mentioned, and will shrug my shoulders and move on if it turns out not to be. I don't know with certainty.

The other reason for suspecting Amelanchier is the habit. On due consideration, I'm tending more towards Amelanchier than Prunus.

I'm still uncertain, but the advice to leave it alone stands. Worst-case scenario - it's good early bee food.

The flowers look more like Amelanchier to me too. Prunus petals are generally more rounded.

Amelanchier:

My Permie pals are AWESOME! I took the leads you gave me and researched online last night. I would have to agree, it is an Amelanchier ( common serviceberry, native to Eastern U.S. and parts of Canada).
I so hope it will have berries this year. They're supposed to taste like blueberries. The trouble is it mentioned all the types of birds who eat them and they are all ones i have as regulars at my bird feeding area. I'd hate to have to put netting on a tree, it looks so unnatural.
Thank you all. I'm so excited. I'll post berry pictures ( if I'm so lucky).

hi Karen,

the solution is to plant gobs of them

there are varieties that are bushes
plant some of these for yourself
and leaves the one on the trees
for the birds



a u-pick juneberry operation!!

I'm a little bit worried, we had a frost 2 mornings ago and now there's no blooms left on the tree. Another fruitless year?

The flowers look a bit big for Amelanchier to me..... if you look at the pic of the whole tree.... also, Amelanchier flower young?? Could it be Magnolia stellata? Do the buds look like furry seed pods? As someone else said, if I'm wrong I'll just shrug my shoulders

It is definitely Serviceberry (probably Amelanchier arborea, though there are several other species of serviceberry in your area). It is not a prunus. We have both kinds of trees all over on our property and national forest next door. Being able to make direct comparisons between them on a daily basis makes it rather easy to spot the differences. With black cherries in bloom, as well, and the dogwoods blooming very early this year, our hills were covered in white for a few weeks. Now it's only the dogwoods, but they are going strong and really beautiful!

By the way, someone said they thought that serviceberry leaves came out before the blooms, but that is not the case. Both serviceberry and wild plums produce flowers first, then leaves. The black cherries (also prunus) are just the opposite, producing leaves before the flowers.

I hope you get some fruits. Ours always get eaten by birdes before we get more than a nibble. They are incredibly delicious but don't taste like blueberries at all (though they do look a lot like them -- except they're red). I personally think they taste like maraschino cherries. They have a kind of cherry/sweet almond flavor.

I think I would lean more to the idea Linda posted.
http://tree-pictures.com/images/treephotos-magnolia/magnoliaflower/starmagnolia.jpg
here is one with flowers and some trunk (still not the best but an idea)
http://tree-pictures.com/images/treephotos-magnolia/starmagnolia/magnoliatree-star.jpg

The tree looks a bit big for the Northern types of Amalanchier that I know. I know I have seen trees with similar flowers as well but I never really went to identify them. The service berries that I have planted are still quite small and have been flowering and producing berries from year 2. So if you have not had any berries on it in a few years I would say that makes it a bit less likely to be Amalanchier/service berry.

Bernard Welm wrote:The service berries that I have planted are still quite small and have been flowering and producing berries from year 2. So if you have not had any berries on it in a few years I would say that makes it a bit less likely to be Amalanchier/service berry.

Bernard, There are many factors that could influence fruiting time besides age of tree -- soil conditions, light, water, etc. Just because some flower and produce berries at a certain age is no guarantee another tree -- even of the exact same species -- will.

Forgot to mention ... if you look at the magnolia flower photos Linda suggested, you can see by the completely different branch structure that they are not the same kind of tree. Count the petals on each of the trees, and look at the shape and color of the reproductive parts (pistil and stamens) -- the magnolia and those of the original photo here on this thread are completely different. This is definitely a serviceberry tree, NOT a magnolia or a prunus species. Also, the Juneberries in the video above are not the same species either -- though they are Amelanchier (likely Amelanchier alnifolia). They are a shrubby variety specifically grown for the berries, whereas the tree in the original post is either a wild tree (A. arborea) or an ornamental tree (probably A. canadensis).

Deb Stephens wrote:By the way, someone said they thought that serviceberry leaves came out before the blooms, but that is not the case. Both serviceberry and wild plums produce flowers first, then leaves. The black cherries (also prunus) are just the opposite, producing leaves before the flowers.

I hope you get some fruits. Ours always get eaten by birdes before we get more than a nibble. They are incredibly delicious but don't taste like blueberries at all (though they do look a lot like them -- except they're red). I personally think they taste like maraschino cherries. They have a kind of cherry/sweet almond flavor.

The ones around here (Amelanchier alnifolia) always have leaves on them before the blossoms open, and they're dark purple, like blueberries.

Wow! The suggestion of this being a type of magnolia sent me back into research mode. There are similar traits. I still believe now, after further investigation, that it is an Amelanchier ( A. arborea). I plucked a couple of leaves ( it has only a few in the top and south side of the tree) but the color may have been altered by the recent frost. The leaves are small yet ( only 1 1/2" or so) but they are slightly serated like a serviceberry. The bloom came before any leaves and most of the leaf buds are still tightly closed. The bloom was small too ( about 1"-1 1/2" across and 2" long). I had read that the bloom of the "star magnolia" was 3"-4" across . I'm adding a picture i found at this Va. Tech. website. It really shows the bloom at a better angle than my pictures. I was about to fall down the bank.

All of the pictures i had seen showed green leaves so i assumed mine were damaged by the frost, but i just noticed that the leaves in the picture posted by Rue Barbie (1 wk ago) are also reddish.

Victor Johanson wrote:
The ones around here (Amelanchier alnifolia) always have leaves on them before the blossoms open, and they're dark purple, like blueberries.

I stand corrected. I am so used to the common serviceberry trees we have around here that it didn't occur to me that other species might be that different. I also didn't realize there were so many species until we started this discussion -- wow! I'm seriously looking into getting some of those large-fruited bush varieties.

Karen Layne wrote:All of the pictures i had seen showed green leaves so i assumed mine were damaged by the frost, but i just noticed that the leaves in the picture posted by Rue Barbie (1 wk ago) are also reddish.

Some of the young leaves of the serviceberries I see around here do start out red but turn green as they mature. I'm not sure if any other varieties stay red though.

I agree with you now.... it's an Amelanchier.... for some reason, in your original picture, I thought the trunk was much bigger and therefore the blooms were bigger too!! Amelanchier blossom here (UK) are max 1" across and the leaves open red Just like yours. I also hadn't realised there are so many different Amelanchiers! What a lovely species

What a lovely species indeed! And Deb I hope they do taste like maraschino cherries - oh boy!

Deb Stephens wrote:

Karen Layne wrote:All of the pictures i had seen showed green leaves so i assumed mine were damaged by the frost, but i just noticed that the leaves in the picture posted by Rue Barbie (1 wk ago) are also reddish.

Some of the young leaves of the serviceberries I see around here do start out red but turn green as they mature. I'm not sure if any other varieties stay red though.

Yes, ours also are red in the juvenile stage.

Deb Stephens wrote:

Victor Johanson wrote:
The ones around here (Amelanchier alnifolia) always have leaves on them before the blossoms open, and they're dark purple, like blueberries.

I stand corrected. I am so used to the common serviceberry trees we have around here that it didn't occur to me that other species might be that different. I also didn't realize there were so many species until we started this discussion -- wow! I'm seriously looking into getting some of those large-fruited bush varieties.

They're really productive and tasty, a least in the far north.

The leaves have greened up and I might see the formation of berries just beginning. There aren't many but maybe I'll get to taste one this year.