Tree ID

[johnw]

Last evening we had a great long walk along a newly constructed hiking trail round the Northwest Arm, a body of water to the west of the Halifax peninsula.  The trail goes through the former estate of Sir Sandford Fleming bequeathed to the city upon his death, the Dingle Tower is on the estate now a 95 acre park known as The Dingle.  A perfect evening at 25c till at least 10pm. 

There was one section of the trail that passes through the garden of a late botanist/lichenologist friend and I was cuurious to see the changes after an absence of 25 years.  He was a collector of mainly European and easternmost Russian plants.  We came upon an 10-15m Acer on the latter property which appeared to be covered in pink flowers.  Upon closer inspection the flowers were of course seed pods.  We have no idea of the species. Can anyone help?

john
20c & sunny at 9:44AST

[johnw]

The second tree we spied from a distance.  I suspected an Alnus.  It was a bit of a struggle to fight my way through the Lysichitons and nasty Impatiens glandulifera to get these photos.  No idea which species it is but the cluster of seed pods were mighty weighty.  The leaves were spotless, the tree habit narrow and rather compact.

johnw

[GordonT]

Hi John,

The first tree you photographed is Acer tataricum var ginnala. A selected cultivar is available in the nursery trade from time to time, called 'Hot Wings', that has really bright red samaras. There is a similar tree here in Bear River, behind "Flight of Fancy" Gallery.

I am guessing that your Alnus is Manchurian/Siberian alder (Alnus hirsuta), but I may be wrong.

[johnw]

Thanks Gordon,  I should have deduced that as I regularly brought it and A. tegmentosum to garden centres here from out west.  I had put it completely out of mind of late due to past warnings of its invasive tendencies:

Missouri BG
"Amur maple (Acer tataricum var. ginnala) has been identified by a task force of the Missouri Botanical Garden as one of the top plants known to be spreading into native plant areas and crowding out native species in our region. Because of its known invasive tendencies and difficult to control dispersal mechanisms naturalists recommend against planting this plant."

Now I must go back to see if there were any seedlings about.  I hope not though it is much cleaner than the dreaded Norway Maple which is presently at its worst - covered in black tar spot and many leaves on the ground.

Splendid komaravii there, I must try it again as mine did not winter indoors in a frost-free greenhouse.  Can you recommend a seed source that guarantees no crossing with the tender var.?

john

[johnw]

Have been talking to Michael Dirr and he believes the Alnus is a A. hirsuta.

john

[johnw]

Might this possibly be a Zanthoxylum seedling?  Amazing how lookalikes know where to germinate.....

johnw
21.5C w. 86% humidity

[Afloden]

Looks like a Zanthoxylum.