Leptospermum 'Dark Shadows' - Dark Shadows Leptospermum

Leptospermum 'Dark Shadows' is a nice compact small evergreen tree or large shrub with purple foliage reaching 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Another nice dark foliaged tree for contrast in the landscape. From my observations, the plants seem to be almost as wide as tall and multi-stemmed forming a upright spreading habit. 

Leaves are alternate, simple, narrowly lanceolate, about an inch long, mostly purplish color but those in the inner canopy are more green and new ones are more red. Leaves covered with long silver hairs.

Flowers are white, borne in summer, about 3/4" in diameter and contrast very nicely with the flush of new foliage.

Fruit is a small capsule with 5 valves when open.

Misidentification:

Agonis flexuosa 'Jervis After Dark' perhaps?

Location:

Aptos 

455 Sandlewood Dr

Agonis flexuosa 'Jervis Bay Afterdark'

I really like this tree, it pushes all the right buttons for me, small, weeping, and purple. Discovered as a mutation in a nursery it is now way more popular than the species from which it was derived. Estimated height is a about 20' with a spread of 10'. Mature specimens are a bit more open and said to be less purple. (This one tipped over in the wind.)

The new foliage comes out scarlet in the spring before darkening to a deep purple. Leaves are smaller than the species which adds to its soft weeping texture.

Flowers are white, with a pinkish purple center, five petals that are obovate allowing you to see though the flower.

Fruit is a small persistent capsule and should be like the species.

Misidentification:
Perhaps Leptospermum 'Dark Shadows'. Both have small white flowers, and short purple leaves. Agonis lacks the hairs on the leaves and is by far more weeping.

There is a new purple leaved Agonis 'Burgundy', but the foliage quickly becomes green and is no way close to the dark purple of this one. However, seems to make a fuller tree.

There is a dwarf, 'Nana' that I would like to see.

Location:
Aptos
420 Clubhouse


Capitola
816 41st. Ave. in the alley between Verve Coffee and Penny Ice Cream are 3 nice recently planted specimens.

4690 Crystal St. (lots of other unique trees)

Next to Verve coffee shop on 41st are 3 nice specimens.

Santa Cruz
1313 Escalona Dr 5 in one yard.

Dodonaea viscosa 'Purpurea' - Purple Hopseed

The purple hopseed is a rapidly growing small tree or more likely a large shrub, but we can include it here anyway. Growing to 15', individual plants will form an upright oval shape. More often than not we seem them as a hedge or screen.

Leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, oblong to oblanceolate,  4" by about 3/4" wide and depending on the sun exposure and cooling temperatures they can be purple to greenish bronze. Generally held vertical on the stems.

Small green flowers in the spring, in clusters, hard to spot. Separate male and females on the same plant (monoecious). Can't say I have ever seen them or even looked for them.


Fruit is a 2-3 winged capsule, reddish to brown when mature. Resembles an elm fruit. But must look like a hop plant, unless you have actually seen a hop plant.

A fresh capsule, still red and showing the 3 lobes.

Bark is fibrous, peeling with age. Trunk never really gets that big in diameter.

Misidentification?
Not sure.

Location:
Everywhere, sorry but its the truth.

Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' - Bloodgood Maple

The Bloodgood maple is one of the most commonly planted purple Japanese maples anywhere. They are by far the hardiest, and most tolerant of full sun. Bloodgood maple grows as a small tree, often multi-stemmed with a rounded canopy rarely reaching 20'.

Leaves are purple or greenish in the shade, opposite, deciduous, palmately lobed but only  shallowly, with fairly wide triangular lobes being lightly serrated.

Fruit in summer is a nice addition, bright red in large quantities. Samaras in pairs, wide spreading, maturing brown and falling individually.

Great fall color.

Misidentification:
There are several purple japanese maples but this one has pretty shallowly lobed leaves.

Location:
Aptos
317 Clubhouse Drive

Capitola
4585 Opal Cliff Dr (lots of great specimens) Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz
221 Ross St   (excellent specimens)

Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' - Forest Pansy Redbud

Okay, one more purple leaved tree. I though I had already covered the redbud but must of missed that one. The cultivar Forest Pansy is a nice variation on the species and differs in having very dark purple leaves. I like this tree. We had room for one small tree and this is what choose. (I have also become a ruthless gardener, in our small space if something doesn't work its out of here, so well see.) This was ours.

And eventually this is what we will see while sitting under the tree.

The redbuds are small multi-stemmed trees or large shrubs and are found in nature as understory trees. With age they develop into somewhat of a flat topped tree. They vary in height and spread but Forest Pansy seems to top out about 20' though 15 is not uncommon. They are usually about as wide as they are tall.

The foliage emerges a very dark shiny purple after the flowers. They are alternate, almost round in shape with entire margins, the base is heart-shaped, or cordate. 

As I have mentioned elsewhere, trees in the legume family have funny swellings on the leaves and these are at the base of the leaf blade where it attaches to the petiole.

Large quantities of small pink pea-like flowers open before the foliage emerges. I don't think this variety blooms as well as the species. Pictured below is a grove of the species in spring at Mississippi State Univ. campus.

So I am cheating a bit here, these are actually C. siliquastrum flowers but they look just like C. canadensis. 

Fruit is a persistant pea-pod, 2-3" long and very thin.

Stems are reddish-brown, zig zaging and the bark is slightly broken up into small plates.

Fall color is a bonus. The species has yellow fall color and when you mix in some purple you get some really nice shades of reds.

Misidentification: If there are leaves not likely. If in bloom, well you may not know the leaves are purple but you will not mistake a redbud in bloom for anything other than another redbud. Cercis occidentals is our native redbud and is almost always smaller and seriously more multi-stemmed, almost suckery. You will see lots of our native along highway 1.

Locations:
Aptos - 636 Cliff - on the left side of the driveway (a red Japanese maple is on the right side.)

Betula pendula 'Purpurea' - Purple Birch

Betula pendula 'Purpurea' is a pretty rare tree around here. From what I have seen they don't do that well here or other places I have seen them.  Growth rate is slower than the green species, and I don't think they really weep well like an older European Weeping Birch. Small purple leaves are tough to see. 

As you cans see, the leaves are the same shape as the species, they are just purple. 

Misidentification: Not sure,

Location:

Aptos (Seacliff) 630 Middlefield Dr.

Soquel 

3036 Center St

Acer platanoides 'Crimsom King' - Crimson King Norway Maple

Crimson King Norway Maple is a popular purple cultivar of the common Norway maple. Again, like the species, they are considered weeds in many areas of the county. Crimson King maples are not as large as the species, maybe 25-30' tall with a more upright habit than the round shaped species. Canopy is very dense allowing very little to grow under them. This and most of the other pictures are old ones of low quality from Spokane. You can see a green (its turning yellow in the fall) Norway behind the purple one.

Leaves are opposite, simple, 4-7" long and wide, 5 lobes with 2 small "fangs". Not deeply lobed, rounded sinuses. Lobes are lightly toothed but the teeth are bristle tipped. New foliage is very dark purple, becoming lighter as the season progresses, and eventually turning an interesting fall color. Milky sap flows from the petiole until late fall.

Here is a picture of the species leaves, just to see the bristle tips and lobes.

Fruit is a pair of winged samaras, 2" long held at about 180 degrees. Produced in large branched clusters unlike our big-leaf maple. These are again from the species.

Flowers are produced early in the spring and are yellowish. Pretty showy as they emerge before the leaves. Whole tree takes on a lime yellowish color. Contrasts very nicely with the newly emerging purple foliage, better than the green leaves.

Misidentification: Sycamores, look at the leaf arrangement, maples are all opposite, sycamores are alternate, may resemble sugar maple but I have not seen one here.

Locations:
Aptos

Aptos Village County Park - on the lawn area

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Atropurpureum' - Purple Sycamore Maple

The sycamore maples are native to Europe. The name suggests that they must look like a sycamore tree. Okay, so the scientific name is Acer pseudoplatanus or false maple. The common sycamore's name is (was) acerfiolia acer-like.... So you have a maple that looks like a sycamore and a sycamore that looks like a maple.... now, add in the Norway Maple, A. platanoides or platanus-like (the genus name of the sycamore is of course Platanus) .... and you have circle of names, not sure who is making this stuff up, but its no me.

Anyway, loved seeing this tree. I was on Western Dr and thought I was looking at a purplish large leaved maple (A. macrophyllum) as they can come out of winter with a nice purple tinge but this is June 25th and hardly spring, so I stopped and noticed the lower surface of the leaves and the fruit and it was very clear what this tree was.

The purple sycamore maples are common trees in northern landscapes as well in the midwest and east cost (so everywhere but here). They form a large rounded or oval canopy reaching 40 -50' tall and 30+ wide while casting a pretty dense shade. This is a planting of several cultivars from an English garden. The one on right is an example.

Leaves are opposite, simple, 3-5" long, palmately lobed with 5 lobes (3 strong lobes and 2 weaker ones). The lobes are pretty shallow, and lightly toothed, not long bristles like the norway maples.  Upper surface is tough, leathery, dark green while the lower surface is red to pink colored. Upper surface may also have lots of little raised blisters from a midge gall.

Stems are stout. Buds plump, with a dark line on the edge.

Bark is smooth till older then exfoliating in thin sheets.

Flowers are very much like A. macrophyllum, hanging down in long chains. Attractive yet often overlooked.

Fruit is a samara, in pairs, about an inch long. The fruit develops a very nice red to pink color along with some green before they mature to a light brown. The pairs form an angle of about 60 degrees.

Very interesting tree for the color of the foliage when viewed from below.

Fall color is pretty nice as well.

Misidentification: Sycamores (alternate leaves) Norway maple (5-7 bristle tipped lobes), Bigleaf Maple (very deeply dissected lobes, leaves tend to be much larger.

Location:
Santa Cruz. 1000 Western Drive. Multiple stems, showing a nice foliage canopy in June.