Schefflera pueckleri - Mallet Flower

The Schefflera tree, known by many as Tupidanthus calyptratus is a tropical house plant that manages to grow nicely in some of our more mild areas. Grows 15-20' or larger depending on where you live, or it lives. Generally pretty narrow in cultivation. More than likely planted out front when it was too large for the living room or someone was moving out and could not take it with them.

Leaves are alternate, palmately compound, 7-9 leaflets, each leaflet 6-8" long, elliptical, to obovate, or oblong-lanceolate, margins undulated. Leaves bright green. Leaf base usually swollen and wrapping around the stem part way.

Fruit are pretty odd, really, looking sort of like little animal faces with smiles. Seems there are two fused together on a green stalk.

Flower buds in August, they are stalked and resemble a mallet, hence the common name.

Misidentification
Schefflera actinophylla I guess, but this is more coarse in texture, and the flowers are very different.

Location:
Santa Cruz
505 Lembrandt Ave

Acer truncatum - Shantung Maple

The Shantung Maple is a beautiful small deciduous tree with a nice tight rounded canopy to 25'. Wonderful fall color and drought tolerance once established, I am surprised its not more common. Also known as the Purpleblow maple. Drought tolerant, smallish, fall color, what's not to like?

The deciduous leaves are opposite, simple, 3-5" long, dark glossy green, with five lobes which are usually entire but can be undulated. The base of the leaf is often truncated, or flat which is were the name comes from. White milky sap can be seen if you remove the leaves in summer. New spring growth with a reddish cast.

Flowers are small, greenish yellow and look like many other maples in this group (A. platanoides, A. campestre).

Fruit is a pair of samaras, usually broadly spreading into a U shape.

Stems are smooth, as is the bark.

Fall color can be yellow, reds, oranges. This is one I planted many years ago in Spokane.

This species is related to A. platanoides and has been hybridized to produce several commercially available trees including  'Pacific Sunset' and 'Norwegian Sunset'. Both hybrids resulting in a smaller size, better fall color and drought tolerance of A. truncatum.


Misidentification:
Most likely looks like a cultivar of A. palmatum around here. But the flowers are a different color.
Other locations where more maples grow you might see A. pictum mono, A. cappadocicum.

Stumbled across this https://www.metromaples.com/shantung-maples. Wow.


Location:
Aptos
114 Seacliff Dr
204 El Camino Del Mar

Edited 5/24

Acer x freemanii 'Armstrong' - Armstrong Maple

The best and worst examples of this tree are in Scotts Valley, where they were planted to create a nice vertical accent to the entrances of the shopping center, then had the tops cut out of them. Anyway, a nice hybrid red/silver maple with a tall narrow habit, 40+ feet tall and 15' wide. Potentially fair fall color.

Leaves are opposite, simple, palmately lobed, 5-6" long and deeply lobed margins much more silver maple like that red. Very long red tinged petioles.

Fruit is a samara, red wings turning brown. Wings are almost parallel.

Considered to have good, but not great fall color. I suspect it has too much of the silver maple fall color gene (to go along with the leaf shape).

Misidentification:
Other A. x Freemanii hybrids, but this one is very narrow. There are other similar columnar hybrid or red maples but they have leaves more like a red maple. 'Bowhall' and 'Columnare'.

Location:
Scotts Valley
Mt Herman Dr at most entrances to the shopping center.

Watsonville
Library at Freedom Blvd and Airport intersection.

Acer ginnala - Amur Maple

I ran into a specimen of the Amur Maple while cutting through the Soquel School. Not at all common in SC. The Amur maple is a nice little tree growing to maybe 20' tall with potentially great fall color. Often grown as a multi-stemmed specimen or can be trained as a single stem. A cultivar called 'Flame' has great fall color.

Sorry, old picture with low resolution, but shows the fall color.

Leaves are deciduous, simple, opposite, ovate shaped, with serrated margins, sometimes considered to be lobed with a prominent central lobe. Leaves are 2-4" long. 

Leaves can be quite variable in size as well as being very lobed or only slightly serrated. Age and rate of growth seem to be the deciding factor, with older slower growing plants showing smaller less deeply serrated margins.

Flowers are produced in spring, light green or yellowish, in chains, slightly fragrant. 

Fruit is typical of maples, paired samaras. The pairs hang almost parallel to each other and one is generally much smaller than the other. In summer they can be bright red. 

Bark is dark gray and usually pretty smooth but as they age they develop some longitudinal furrows. 

Also know as Acer tataricum ginnala.

Misidentification:
Not likely

Location:
Capitola
On Porter St at the Soquel School, near the east end of the campus close to the building. (Gone, removed for remodeling.)

Tabebuia chrysotricha - Golden Trumpet Tree

The Golden Trumpet Tree is as rare sight in SC and a welcome one in late winter. Trees are covered with bright yellow trumpet shaped flowers. Growing 20-30' tall with a variable shape, upright to spreading umbrella shaped. I was a little late for this shot.

Leaves opposite, deciduous, palmately compound with 3-5 leaflets, dark green upper surface, lower surface with hairs. Leaflets elliptical to obovate, 4" long. 

Twigs and buds are densely covered with coppery colored hairs

Flowers are borne in droopy clusters of 3-5 flowers each about 2-3" long, trumpet shaped with reddish brown streaks on the inner surface of the petals.  Calix (sepals) have the same pubescence as the stems. 

Fruit is an elongated capsule, 8" long more or less straight, covered with the same coppery colored hairs, persisting most all year. Opening to reveal seeds with long wings. (Same family as the Catalpas so the fruit and seeds are similar.)

Synonym: Handroanthus chrysotrichus

Misidentification:

Around here I doubt it, in SoCal, there are other species.

Location:
Capitola
4570 Opal St.

Tabebuia impetiginosa - Pink Trumpet Tree

Pink Trumpet tree, best seen in warmer climates than our grows 20-25' tall with an open upright to lightly spreading habit. There maybe more here but I have only seen one.

This is at the Huntington Gardens.

I ran into this tree looking for the famous Monkey hand tree on Spring St, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a beautiful Pink Dogwood, so I hung a quick U-turn and wow. I went back almost 8 weeks later and it was still blooming. The owner told me they were once planted all along Pacific Ave.

Found this one on the west side, can't wait to see it in bloom.

Foliage is deciduous, opposite, palmately compound, 3-5 medium green leaflets, elliptical shaped, 4" long, slightly serrated margins.

Little different look, a bit more stiff and weathered, but this was early fall and the other was spring.

Buds are silver, terminal is flat, while the laterals are very small. Stem greenish brown.

Tubular flowers are borne in clusters of 3-5 flowers, pink to purple with a yellow throat.

 Flower display at the Huntington.

Fruit is a long (8") skinny capsule, smooth green, no hairs, usually pretty straight. 

Bark is attractive.

Synonyms: Lots Handroanthus impetiginosus, Tabebuia avellanedae.


Misidentification:
Compared to the yellow trumpet tree when not blooming, look at the foliage, stems and fruit, one is covered with copper hairs, this one is not.

Location
Santa Cruz
112 Quarry Ln
124 Kenneth Dr. Wow, go see that one.
316 Oceanview Ave

Acer capillipes - Snake Bark Maple

The snake bark maples are a really cool group of understory maples. Most are from Asia, but there is one from the east coast. Trees can reach 30 - 40' with a dense rounded crown. Often multi-stemmed with primary scaffold branches being upright and spreading. More branches = more cool bark. But young branches are the best. Not very common in our area. 

Leaves are deciduous, opposite, simple, 4" long, broadly ovate, with coarsely to finely 3-5 lobes, lobes serrated as well. Leaf veins deeply set and prominent on the lower surface. Petioles red. New leaves in spring are reddish as well.

Buds are stalked, slightly raised on a very short stem.

Flowers are small, yellowish green in long chains in early spring, blooming early March. This specimen does not produce fruit that I have seen.

Bark is awesome, but is best when young. Young stems are green with vertical streaks of white, as the stems age the white becomes more brown and slightly ridged, still nice.

Misidentification:
The snake bark maples are a tough group to differentiate from one another. Its too bad we have so few! This one is distinct due to its red petioles and lacking reddish hairs on the lower leaf surface. A. davidii has leaves that are rarely strongly lobed, usually only 3 lobes if any at all. There as several A. davidii specimens around but are not close to the street to see.

Location:
Better go see this one soon, just saw the house was for sale and you never know what people will do when they move in. Yep, gone.

Santa Cruz - Pleasure Point
3421 Yucca Dr. (Gone, too late, they saved the Liquidambars - go figure)

Acer campestre - Hedge Maple

The recent water pipe work on Soquel Drive made me think about posting up this tree as they are not doing that great anyway and with the construction they may not last much longer. The Hedge maple is a nice smaller maple developing a rounded crown to about 25'.  Trees are often low branching and need to be pruned if used as a street tree.

Leaves opposite, simple, palmately lobed, usually 5 rounded lobes, 2-4" long, dark green, lighter below, sometimes lightly pubescent below, another maple with white sap.

Flowers are yellowish green, small, at the same time as the leaves emerge. Found at the end of the stems.

Fruit are winged samaras, 1 to 1-1/2" long and spreading at 180 degrees.

Stems thin, light brown, sometimes with corky growths, usually not.

Bark is thin, light gray to brown with some shallow furrows.

Misidentification:
not sure, rounded lobes are a good feature,

Location:
Aptos
Soquel Dr in median from Cabrillo to Capitola Rd

Santa Cruz
500 block of Logan St at Mott.