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Another 'What is this plant?' query.....

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  • 19-08-2017 9:43pm
    #1
    Monaou2
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭


    Hi

    I wonder could anyone help me identify this plant - two pics attached, with one showing leaves and one showing stem/trunk. It is a shrub or tree, about 8ft high. It hasn't flowered so far this year - I thought there were buds coming but they haven't developed into anything yet.

    I'm trying to figure what it is so I can trim it properly - it is very big and I want to bring it back under control, but don't want to kill it in the process.

    Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.


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    #2
    rje66
    Registered Users Posts: 1,240 ✭✭✭rje66


    Camellia i think.


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    #3
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Sorry not a Camellia, for a start the leaves don't seem to be alternate they are toothed and there's an obvious flower bud that isn't going to produce a flower anything like a Camellia.

    Having a hard time identifying it Olearia macrodonta was the first thing I checked but its not that.

    Edit> Next on the list was Viburnum but can't find one with that exact leaf shape.

    - still looking


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    #4
    beefburrito
    Closed Accounts Posts: 695 ✭✭✭beefburrito


    Looks like a type of Elaeagnus to me.


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    #5
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    I think we can rule out Elaeagnus which is an otherwise obvious choice because like Camellia and Olearia Elaeagnus doesn't have its leaves in pairs opposite each other along the stem.


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    #6
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    OP Do a google for Viburnum macrocephalum and check in particular the leaf size

    Deciduous or semi-evergreen
    2 to 4 inches long, 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide
    Rounded or egg-shaped to football-shaped
    Stellate pubescence (star-like hairs) on underside
    Petiole (leaf stem) short
    from http://www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/key/leaves.pdf

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/plant-finder/viburnum-macrocephalum/


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    #7
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    It's some form of Viburnum, to me. Trim it back in stages over a few years, as it seems very old and may not respond to the usual hard pruning they can take.


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    #8
    Monaou2
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭Monaou2


    my3cents wrote: »
    OP Do a google for Viburnum macrocephalum and check in particular the leaf size

    Deciduous or semi-evergreen
    2 to 4 inches long, 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide
    Rounded or egg-shaped to football-shaped
    Stellate pubescence (star-like hairs) on underside
    Petiole (leaf stem) short
    from http://www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/key/leaves.pdf

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/plant-finder/viburnum-macrocephalum/

    Thanks for the replies folks.

    I think you are right, that it is a Viburnum macrocephalum. The leaf size fits with the description and googling some pictures it looks like it. Only piece that doesn't match is that there hasn't been any flowers on it yet this year, but maybe unfortunately it is old and no longer flowering or something.

    I'll trim it back gently over the winter and give it some fertiliser and hopefully that will encourage it to flower in the spring, cause the flowers when I google it are very impressive.

    Thanks again.


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    #9
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Monaou2 wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies folks.

    I think you are right, that it is a Viburnum macrocephalum. The leaf size fits with the description and googling some pictures it looks like it. Only piece that doesn't match is that there hasn't been any flowers on it yet this year, but maybe unfortunately it is old and no longer flowering or something.

    I'll trim it back gently over the winter and give it some fertiliser and hopefully that will encourage it to flower in the spring, cause the flowers when I google it are very impressive.

    Thanks again.

    Don't prune it in winter. Do it in late spring or early summer. One session of pruning each year for a couple of years.


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    #10
    Monaou2
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭Monaou2


    So this shrub has flowered - pic attached. Looks like it's a Elaeagnus I think?

    Anything worth noting for trimming/pruning it?

    Thanks in advance.


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    #11
    my3cents
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,764 ✭✭✭my3cents


    Monaou2 wrote: »
    So this shrub has flowered - pic attached. Looks like it's a Elaeagnus I think?

    Anything worth noting for trimming/pruning it?

    Thanks in advance.

    No its still a viburnum, sorry it wasn't Viburnum macrocephalum but now we have a flower my money would be on Viburnum x burkwoodii 'Anne Russell', but hard to be 100% sure of the actual varietal form.


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    #12
    Monaou2
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭Monaou2


    My3cents - many thanks for taking the time to reply. Yes I think you are right in your identification going by the google searches I did. It looks like a nice shrub so I'll try to prune it gently and nurse it back to health.

    Thanks again!
    my3cents wrote: »
    No its still a viburnum, sorry it wasn't Viburnum macrocephalum but now we have a flower my money would be on Viburnum x burkwoodii 'Anne Russell', but hard to be 100% sure of the actual varietal form.


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