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Tree identification, please.

Last post 03-11-2009 11:11 PM by Silver surfer. 8 replies.

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  • 03/10/2009 09:37 PM
    • Phot's-Moll
    • The sunny South coast.
    • 06 Jan 2007
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    Any ideas? It's a friend's tree. The fruit contains a single stone, like a tiny plum.

    Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.
  • 04/10/2009 10:52 PM
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    • Phot's-Moll
    • The sunny South coast.
    • 06 Jan 2007
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     Tongue Tied

    Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.
  • 04/10/2009 11:04 PM
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    Hi Phot's.

    Sorry, but I would like more pics,showing a clear close up of the fruit.  Especially the stalk end. It would also  be good to see how it is attached to the twig. Is it single stalk, or does it come on a cluster? How big is this? Is it a tree or a shrubby thing?

    More info please!

    SS

     
  • 04/10/2009 11:25 PM
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    • Phot's-Moll
    • The sunny South coast.
    • 06 Jan 2007
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     I'll ask my friend for more info. She describes it as a tree, with a thickish trunk. The fruit are blackcurrant sized, very little flesh and a single stone.

    Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.
  • 05/10/2009 12:03 AM
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    In the pic above there appears to be a collar on the berry. This is causing my dilemma!  Which is why additional pics MAY help.
  • 05/10/2009 01:19 PM
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    • Phot's-Moll
    • The sunny South coast.
    • 06 Jan 2007
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     There is a small collar. It's brown and crispy - presumably the remains of the flower.

    Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.
  • 05/10/2009 04:11 PM
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    Not Ranked
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    Looks like Bird Cherry to me. Prunus padus. Lanceolate serrated leaves and a small black drupe fruit. Nice tree imho.
  • 05/10/2009 07:04 PM
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    Prunus padus fruits are 1/4 to 1/3rd of an inch in size.

     The leaves should show 2 tiny glands just above the leaf stalk. In your pic I couldn't see these phot's. Normally the berry is a complete spere, with no collar.

    Pics below to see what your friend thinks.

     

    http://www.belleuropa.net/cassinazza/bacche/foto/pado2.jpg

     

    http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/p3/p34994.php

     

    http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/r152293.htm
  • 03/11/2009 11:11 PM
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    Phot's. I was never very happy with Prunus padus fitting your friend's tree.

    I have now pinned it down to Prunus serotina. This is the only species in the genus to have a persistent calyx.... like your pic!   That "collar" that was bugging me!

     See this article.

     It is a diagnostic feature which tells it apart from Prunus padus and Prunus virginiana.

     

    http://www.nobanis.org/files/factsheets/Prunus_serotina.pdf

     Quote.......

    Species identification

    Prunus serotina is a deciduous shrub or tree – in its native range up to 40 m tall, in Europe mostly < 20 m. The flowers in erect or spreading racemes appear later in spring than those of the native European Prunus padus (hence the name, which means late-flowering). The flowers are white, fragrant. The fruit is a drupe (‘cherry’), black when ripe and it is edible. P. serotina is the only species in the genus with a persistent calyx (diagnostic feature against P. virginiana and P. padus).