Odd fruit causes a fall doubletake

Sometimes we see odd growths on trees and ask "What is that?" If we're told, "Those are seeds," we may say, "Then how come I've never seen them before?! I think this shaggy redbud has a problem, and that this may be a mutant magnolia!"

In this article we give you a look at normal attachments on:

            Magnolia
            Redbud
            Beech
            Catalpa
            Clematis
            David maple
            Douglas fir
            Ginkgo
            Hardy mimosa/ Hardy silk tree
            Hophornbeam
            Horsechestnut
            Katsura
            Kentucky Coffee tree
            Linden
            Osage orange
            Stewartia
            Sweetgum

Those shaggy redbuds and mutant magnolias are in evidence this year but are no worry. They are just the result of a long, frost free spring when lots of pollinators could help plants set lots of fruit. Even those that you've grown for 20 years and never seen set seed.

Magnolias, for instance, are famous for blooming so early that cold often kills the flowers before seed sets, or before bees can warm up enough to gather and spread the pollen. When gardeners do see these fruits they often think they are a tumor or gall on the twig.

MagnolStellFr5077s.jpg  MagnolVirTwFr5097s.jpg

MagnolStellFr0756s.jpg MagnolVirSeedOrn5078s.jpg

Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) sometimes alarm gardeners in fall. That's when leaf drop may reveal a plethora of pods -- they were there all summer but now can't be missed, hanging like the shag on a deerskin shirtsleeve.

CercisBrFr5109s.jpg

CercisTrFr5105s.jpg CercisFr5090s.jpg

 

 

Other odd fruits you may see:

David Maple (Acer davidii)

AcerDavidii5700.jpg

 

Beech nuts on beech (Fagus sylvatica, F. Grandifolia). On the ground, the fallout is called beech mast.

Beechnut5558.jpg

 

Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa). Sometimes called "Cigar tree" because of the fruit.

Catalpa1205.jpg Catulpa5905.jpg

 

Clematis seed pods are silvery pink stars until they ripen. Then they live up to one of the genus' common names, "old man's beard."

ClematisSeed2229.jpg

 

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The cones have distinctive prongs hanging from the scales.

DougFir8473.jpg DouglasFir4866.jpg

 

GinkgoFruit1252.jpg

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, right) fruit is produced in orchards in some countries, a valuable crop. However, it's pomum non gratum on North American street trees where it's not harvested but falls on walkways below, overripe and stinking. Often when it's ripest the untrained observer doesn't know where the fruit is coming from because it's hidden among the ginkgo's golden fall leaves.

 

Hardy mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) pods curl as they ripen and pop open.

Mimosa9713.jpg HardyMimosa9710.jpg

 

Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)

HopHornbeam3270.jpg

 

Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) nuts ("conkers") are encased in spiny covers.

Horsechestnut8877.jpg

 

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) seed pods are there through winter and spring, often described by worried gardeners as "little claws growing on my tree."

Katsura5919.jpg


Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) has pods and seeds so hard pliers and drills are required to open them, and to nick the seed to hasten germination -- otherwise seed sprouting may be delayed for years.

KentCoffee8626.jpg KentukCoffee4887.jpg

 

Linden (Tilia cordata, T. americana) seed pods have pale "wings".

Linden1422.jpg

 

Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) The warty fruits look other-worldly almost anywhere. The color and size make them such stand-outs that drivers often notice them littering the grasssy verge along the road. Where they lie under a straight line of these trees they are a link to the plant's use as a pasture hedge in the 1800's before barbed wire.

OsageOrangeN6416s.jpg

 

Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia)

Stewartia0035.jpg


Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) seed pods can be painful underfoot.

Sweetgum8323.jpg

Pardon our dust; still posting more odd fruits here. And based on some of the additional inquiries we're receiving we may add a second page titled "Nope, that one's not a fruit!"