Agonis flexuosa 'Burgundy' - Burgundy Peppermint Willow

This is a newer cultivar of the Australian Willow and seems to develop a fuller canopy than the dark purple 'Jervis Bay Afterdark' which has been planted all over town. Reported to grow to 25' by about 15' wide with a weeping habit. One issue I have seen is the very narrow crotch angle formed on the trunk which might be a structural issue as the trees mature.

A nice specimen at Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville.

The new leaves come out in early spring with a beautiful burgundy color. The color fades by the end of winter but the new foliage comes out quickly with another flush of color.

 

This is the issue I see with all of the trees I have seen. The trunk splits into two co-dominate leaders with a very narrow crotch angle. As those stems increase in diameter they will push the other away and eventually split.

Misidentification:

Not sure what you might think it is.

Location:

Aptos

280 Baltusrol Dr

Santa Cruz

36 Rockview Drive

Watsonville 

Sierra Azul Nursery

Quercus x ganderi - Gander's oak

 I have been looking at these two Oaks for years and I think I am close to getting to the correct identification. I always guessed they were hybrids between the Coast Live Oak and California Black Oak but the difficulty was (is) the amount of hybridization and genetic studies that Q. agrifolia has been part of makes it difficult to come up with the name. Additionally, the experts are not in agreement.

My favorite old book "Pacific Coast Trees" by McMinn and Maino lists one hybrid, Q. morehus. More recent publications suggest there are more. But, perhaps the botanical variety oxyadenia is not really a distinct variety which eliminates the hybrid group.

Regardless of the name, I will continue.

Large semi-evergreen tree growing to 50' with a broadly oval outline. Often with multiple main branches. For those local, this one is on Bonita close to the Fire Department end.

This one has a different shape due to it growing up against a house.

The leaves are alternate, anywhere from 2-1/2" to 5" long. Most leaves have lobed margins with a short prickle at the end of the lobe. Semi-evergreen and lobed due to Q. kelloggii parent. I read somewhere they called the tree reluctantly deciduous, which fits some years.

You can see the variability in leaf size and depth of the lobes.

Lower surface usually has tufts of hairs in the axils of the main veins.

Some leaves showing the fall color.

Stems are gray colored, terminal buds sharply pointed with imbricate scales, and clustered.

Fruit is an acorn, ripening during the first year. Found only the cap this year and forgot to shoot a picture last year of the fruit.

Trunk develops a nice furrowed look.

Younger trunks are pretty smooth.

Misidentification: Quercus kelloggii though those leaves are bigger, broader, more deeply lobed, and the acorn cap is different.

Synonyms:

CalFlora calls this tree Q. Xchasei.

There was a species originally named Q. chasei (McMinn, 1949)

Kew Gardens considers the proper name as Q. Xganderi with Q. agrifolia var. oxyadenia and Q. kelloggii as the parents.

Cal Poly SLO does not mention Q. Xchasei

https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/1727

Observers on Inaturalist refer to Q. XChasei as a synonym of Q. Xganderi though some use the prior as the proper name.

Location

Aptos

406 Bonita Drive, across the street on the freeway side.

416 Dorsey Ave

Pittosporum eugenoioides 'Variegatum' - Variegated Lemonwood Tree

The variegated Lemonwood tree is an unusual cultivar seen in Santa Cruz county. This one shown here was a surprise to me walking in this neighborhood. There are other Lemonwood trees but this is the only variegated one. I wonder if it was a mistake, not a bad one, likely not intentional. My guess is this tree will grow about 2/3 the height of the species. You can see in this image its brighter green, and smaller.

Leaves are evergreen, simple, alternate, oblong to elliptical. 1-4" long with undulated margins, these being white rather than green.

Misidentification
If you looked quickly at the foliage you might think its a variegated ficus.

Location
Santa Cruz
133 Jenne St

Chrysolepis chrysophylla - Golden Chinqapin

This tree was totally new to me. I was out of my truck collecting some knobcone pine cones on Empire Grade that came down in a storm and I see this dark leaved tree with chestnut fruit. I look up for a chestnut tree but there wasn't one. And the fruit were attached. Okay, not hard to figure out what it is once I get home. The Golden Chinqapin is a relative of the chestnut (Castanea) but has male and female flowers in the same inflorescence. This is could be the botanical variety, Chrysolepis chrysophylla var Minor. Trees growing on poor soils, reaching 30 feet or less.

Leaves are evergreen, simple, alternate, lanceolate to narrowly elliptical, 2-5" long, folding upward along the main vein, boat keel like, about 1" wide, dark green upper surface and a golden lower surface.

Plants are monoecous, males at the ends of the catkins. Male flowers creamy white at the ends of the branches forming in middle summer, July here.

Male flowers at the ends or in this picture, at the top of the inflorescence and the females near the bottom.  Looks like my deck needs painting…..

 Really, red berries? Nope, galls formed by the Chinquapin Flower Wasp.

Fruit is a nut, enclosed in a spiny husk (cupule = cup-like structure like those surrounding the base of an acorn), very much like that of a chestnut. These are three-angled to round, but caught a nice triangular one,

Spins on the outer husk variously branched and very sharp. One distinction between this and a chestnut is that there are separations between each of the 3 nuts.

Here is the fruit on the left with a chestnut on the right.

Stems yellowish turning red, yellow star shape pith.

Bark smooth when young, developing over time to become deeply furrowed.

Synonyms: Castanopsis chrysophylla

Misidentification:
A chestnut due to the fruit, but the leaves look totally different.

Location:
Santa Cruz
5187 Empire Grade

Ulmus procera - English Elm

The English Elm, sometimes called the English Cork Elm, is a large deciduous tree growing over 100' in it's native habitat, but more likely 60' in cultivation. The trees form a somewhat narrow crown with several large primary scaffold branches growing upward and then out. Fast growing, somewhat weedy, spreading by underground suckers, the trees show up in lots of places in large quantities. We have a "grove" of them on the campus in a ravine just north of the campus. The name could also be U. minor var. suberosa.

Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, 2-4" long, about half as wide, elliptical - ovate shaped, double serrated margins, upper surface quite scruffy (stiff hairs, scabrous) with the lower being slightly so as well as having lots of pubescences in the axils of the veins. Marginal yellow fall color.

Stems generally slender, zigzagging, light brown or slightly reddish.  May have lots of irregular corky growth. Not symmetrical like others like the U. alata which had 2 distinct rows of cork.

Flowers before leafing out in early spring, flowers reddish color.

Fruit is a rounded samara, about 1/2" diameter, papery when dry, seed in the middle of the fruit, tip of the samara lightly notched.

Bark is deeply ridged.

Misidentification:
Look for the seriously scabrous upper leaf surface, as well as the pubescent lower and the leaf size. Fruit is always helpful identifying elms.

Location:
Atpos
Cabrillo college, in the ravine north of the Sesnon House.
6900 block of Freedom Blvd.

Santa Cruz
Cedar St in the parking lot of the Calvary Episcopal Church - May be dead and removed soon.

7th Ave and Eaton St. on the 7th side of the house.

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

Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu' - Fuyu Persimmon

The 'Fuyu' Persimmon tree is much like the 'Hachiya' except the fruit are less pointed, and from an eating perspective, less astringent. Trees typically growto 25' with an equal spread forming a rounded, oval or umbrella habit.  While I have not read others mention the spring or summer color of the leaves, these trees all seem to have yellowish foliage. Trees will reliably develop wonderful fall color.

Leaves are deciduous, simple, 3-5" long, ovate to elliptical shaped, entire margins, dark glossy green with distinct veins with a slight leathery texture. Very attractive in summer.

Especially attractive in the fall as they turn to yellow and orange.

Trees are monoecious, male and female flowers blooming in the spring to summer.

Fruit is a large orange berry, 3" wide, but about 2" tall, looking like a squatty apple. Retains its large green calix.

Stems originally slightly hairy, eventually without hairs. Dark rich brown with large lenticels.

Bark is great on all the persimmons.


Misidentification:
As a persimmon I doubt it, but cultivars are another matter. Distinguishing between 'Fuyu' and 'Hachiya' is easy if you see fruit, otherwise you are on your own. There are lots of 'Fuyu' like cultivars available.

If you have a different cultivar in a public space I would be very interested in seeing them.

Location:

Aptos
7535 Soquel Dr.

Corralitos
Corralitos Rd close to the Market, across the street is a row of both cultivars.

Santa Cruz
1104 King St
935 High St

Castanea sativa - European Chestnut

The European chestnut trees are absolutely beautiful while blooming in the spring as well as in the fall with it's yellow-brown foliage and spiny fruit. Trees are deciduous, large, 60' tall and 40' wide with a rounded crown. Usually branching low resulting in a multi-stemmed tree.

 Beautiful tree in full bloom in Palo Alto.

Leaves are deciduous, simple, alternate, lanceolate, 6-10" long by 2-4" wide, dark green in the sun, lighter below, coarsely serrated with nice 1/4" long teeth and a rounded leaf base. Petioles are long, almost an inch. Lower surface can be covered with white hairs or not, do wish they would be consistent.

Flowers are monoecious, on the same inflorescence, males at the tips maturing after the females, very showy and attract lots of bees. Inflorescence can be 4-6" long with lots of flowers.

Fruit is a nut and have been eaten for ages. Like others in the Beech family (Fagaceae), the fruit is partially or totally enclosed by vegetative floral parts. In this case, they completely cover the developing fruit (2 or more) in a sharply spine covered cupule. (The oak fruit is also a nut and is only partially covered by what is commonly called the cup.)

 Sort of a mess, unless you collect them and eat them…..

There is a cool looking star shaped pattern formed by the vascular connections on the flat end of the fruit. The American chestnut patterns look more like a sunburst (reference, then click on the image of the fruit to see all of them).

Stems are stout, dark brown eventually, though green early in the season, with lots of lentils, lateral buds somewhat diverging from the stem. Bark has longitudinal grooves, potentially pretty deep.

Misidentification:
As mentioned below, many chestnut plants are likely hybrids making identification difficult, but look for the long petiole, narrow and long leaf, leaf base rounded, long pointing spines on margins.

Don't be mistaken by the horse chestnuts, they are not edible. They have compound leaves.

Location:
Scotts Valley/Felton
Mt Herman Rd to the left of the Heavenly Roadside Cafe are 2 specimens.
MacDorsa Park


There are at least four species of arborescent Castanea. The American chestnut C. dentata was essentially wiped out due to chestnut blight that struck the eastern mountains in New York in 1904 and by the 40's millions of trees were dead. I viewed some trees over the years at Finch Arboretum in Spokane that were planted as C. dentata. The other species include the European chestnut (C. sativa) and the Chinese Chestnut (C. mollissima).

Researchers found some American chestnuts that showed some resistance and were hybridized with the Chinese and European chestnuts and these are likely to be found North American landscapes. The Chinese chestnut introduces disease resistance and cold hardiness. In fact breeding has been going on since the late 1800's on the east coast. According to the Flora of North America, if a tree does not fit the key exactly, its likely a hybrid, and all the trees I have found do not fit as nicely as I would like.

UC Davis suggests that Chinese immigrants introduced C. mollissima in the mountains of Northern CA during the gold rush and Italians planted C. sativa along the coast of central CA. The results suggest that many trees may indeed be hybrids.

I have used almost every key I have found, and have settled on the European Chestnut. I found the American Chestnut Foundation key from the 2012 Chestnut Summit to be excellent.