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.
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.
Other odd fruits you may see:
David Maple (Acer
davidii)
Beech nuts on beech (Fagus
sylvatica, F. Grandifolia). On the ground, the fallout is
called beech mast.
Catalpa (Catalpa
speciosa). Sometimes called "Cigar tree" because of
the fruit.
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."
Douglas fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii). The cones have distinctive prongs hanging from
the scales.
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.
Hophornbeam (Ostrya
virginiana)
Horsechestnut
(Aesculus hippocastanum) nuts ("conkers")
are encased in spiny covers.
Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) seed pods
are there through winter and spring, often described by worried
gardeners as "little claws growing on my tree."
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.
Linden (Tilia cordata, T. americana)
seed pods have pale "wings".
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.
Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua) seed pods can be painful underfoot.
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!"