Styrax japonicus - Japanese Snowbell

Second part of our trip over to the Quarryhill Botanical Garden up in Glen Ellen, CA included all those Asian tree / foliage species they love to grow such as this Styrax japonicus (Japanese Snowbell). It gets white to pinkish flowers in late spring, and then develops these egg shaped fruits as seen above late summer / fall. Danger Garden has a nice commentary on their fruit. Fortunately, this guy was not used as a median strip walkway tree lol.

Acer pentaphyllum - Asian Maple

This could be one of the rarest trees in the whole bunch on their 25 acre garden. The Acer pentaphyllum (Asian Maple) is the iconic plant for the Quarryhill Botanical garden…even is used at part of their logo. William A. McNamara wrote a fantastic article on A. pentaphyllum that is a must read for Maple lovers.

Idesia polycarpa - Igirl Tree

Idesia polycarpa (Igirl Tree) is a dioecious tree…aka boy parts and girl parts are found on separate trees. In order to get fruit, they need to be grown relatively close to each other. Hum, so which is pictured above? Since the fruit is supposed to start out red then turning a dark purple…I’m guess we have a girl tree here. What a beaut. We hear the fruits are edible, but we never eat random plants/fruits/berries/etc.. during our travels. Love that contrast between the chartreuse leaves and the deep purple berries.

Broussonetia papyrifera - Paper Mulberry

Don’t know a lot about this tree, Broussonetia papyrifera (Paper Mulberry), but leaf shape is pretty sweet. Read that it does go deciduous…and bet can make one great leaf pile to jump in.

Toona sinensis - Chinese Mahogany

One challenge during our visit was trying to get good picture of the whole tree. You really can’t get far enough away to get an entire tree in a single photo, and we still try to grab little nuggets here and there. The Toona sinensis (Chinese Mahogany) best feature was the trunk and bark. The trunk was so straight, and the branches just seemed to be an afterthought…almost attached afterwards like one of those old school silver Xmas trees, sans the conifer look.

Cornus capitata - Himalayan Flowering Dogwood

The fruit on this Cornus capitata (Himalayan Flowering Dogwood) was starting to form. The round fruit above starts out green, but then turns a brilliant red raspberry color late fall. I found some great pics of this tree at a place where we need to visit on one of our trips north…I’m talking about you ..Digging Dog Nursery up in Albion, CA.

Mega Spider

Gratuitous spider photo. Not sure what kind of arachnid you are, but glad I saw it before my face fell into your web. Anybody know this guy? It was just smaller than a Saqajuia dollar…and about the same color.

Liriodendron chinense - Chinese Tulip Tree

Liriodendron chinense (Chinese Tulip Tree) reminds me of a couple sidewalk trees that grow along the streets of San Francisco…aka, the L. tulipifera. The leaves are unique where the apex seems to be lopped off. You can bet that when I took plant ID…I could not miss identifying this one.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum - Japanese Judas Tree

Saved this tree for the end. There were a couple times while hiking around the gardens that we kept getting whiffs of candy smells…almost like burnt brown sugar. Turned out to be this gorgeous tree, Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Japanese Judas Tree…aka Katsura Tree). Not exactly sure why it produces it scent, but it gets more intense as fall approaches. Okay, I want to think it’s because of attracting pollinators. But I still think a fun tree to point out to the kids.

Hey, if you missed it a couple weeks ago, catch up on more of the blooms going on at Quarryhill Botanical Garden here.

– Far Out Flora