Tree / Bush ID help, please?

[Nagual]

Hi there! we've been puzzling over what this particular tree may be for a few months now.

• Its growing in with beech, ash and birch.
• Well watered, next to loch.
• Strong sunlight position, sun hitting it all day.
• Up to 4 or 5 meters tall and quite wide, in a few of them.
• Flowers are grouped together, white and very nice scent.
• Flowers in mid may ( Up here in Scotland )
• Leaves are about 10cm long 4cm wide.
• Has several thorns along the branches, up to an inch or 2.
• Trunk is gray and shiny while young, becomes flaky when older.
• Fruit are small and round. Perhaps 2cm diameter, and I think are reddy brown in colour, but this is no means correct, as they may have rotted by the time we saw them last year.

Here are a few Photos to help ID this tree... hopefully.

A shot of leaves and flowers beginning to come in to bloom:

Thorns along a branch:

Trunk and thorns:

A close up of the trunk of a youngish one:

An older one, with flaky bark nearer the bottom:

Close up of flowers:

Leaves can be easier seen in this one:

As I say, it's got us puzzled. After searching a few books on tree ID we are thinking it's a type of Plum.. but really not too sure. It has all the characteristics of a Sloe, but the leaves are too big. Definitely not a Hawthorn, those I am fully able to ID, it may be a type of cherry, but so far none of the ID books indicate it may be one.. Plums are our best bet so far. Anyone got some ideas on what this may be? There are loads of them around here, at least a dozen, would be nice if they were something nice..

 

[locum76]

I concur it's some sort of exotic prunus. Is there a big house nearby wher it could have escaped from?

 

[Shewie]

There's a Medlar in one of my books which looks pretty similar Nag ?

The bark looks Cherry like but the thorns are throwing me, maybe a Bird Cherry ?

 

[Nagual]

I concur it's some sort of exotic prunus. Is there a big house nearby wher it could have escaped from?

Hmm. Perhaps.. Benmore Botanical Gardens is a few miles down the road. Hadn't thought about about escaped trees, good point. Although nothing in the immediate area, and as far as I can tell, there aren't any in between, however I haven't exactly gone looking along the entire Loch side or in peoples gardens (there are only a very small handful of folks living here anyway).

 

[pheasant plucker]

It looks to be a medlar to me (mespilus germanica) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medlar

 

[Nagual]

There's a Medlar in one of my books which looks pretty similar Nag ?

The bark looks Cherry like but the thorns are throwing me, maybe a Bird Cherry ?

Just checked up on Medlar, and nope not that one. Bird cherries are out of the equation too, the flowers aren't right as far as I can tell. Cheers anyway

 

[Shewie]

Maybe it is a Hawthorn ? There's supposed to be near 1000 species but I've only got the more common ones in my books.

It'll be interesting to hear what folk come up with though.

 

[Neanderthal]

Benmore Botanical Gardens is a few miles down the road.

Sounds like someone there may be able to help.

Stu

 

[charlesr]

Im thinking it may be a hubei crab but what i would say is that it is most likely as everyone has guessed some form of fruit tree, so the best method of id would be to wait till the fruit appears and id the fruit.... Good luck.

 

[Peter_t]

wild and plymouth pear grow in the UK and both have spines. but the bark looks like a prunus, pear bark is usually rough with cube like flakes the fruits are 40mm across for wild pear and 10-18mm for plymouth. im pretty sure its not a plum because they are spineless.

pete

 

[jimford]

Medlar for me.

Did the fruit look like big brownish hawthorn berries?

Jim

 

[bivibabe]

wild and plymouth pear grow in the UK and both have spines. but the bark looks like a prunus, pear bark is usually rough with cube like flakes the fruits are 40mm across for wild pear and 10-18mm for plymouth. im pretty sure its not a plum because they are spineless.

pete

domestic plums that grow wild develop spines,, its round my way that nagual and myself have been trying to id them, patience i guess will tell, for the fruits to appear or a trip to the botanical gardens as its frustrating not knowing if the fruits will be of any use to us...they do have different aspects of different trees so yes very confusing.......

 

[littlebiglane]

some wild medlar develop thorns. looking at it though I still have doubts it is medlar.......leaf shape is slightly different and bark throws me. Its not quince either.

If its not medlar then my money is on some sort of cherry or plum......

 

[treadlightly]

The bark looks like wild cherry and although they blossom in early April in the south of England its possible that this might happen later in Scotland.

 

[combatblade1]

It may be plum leaved crab apple (Malus prunifolia). It fits the description you have given. The book i have says that the young leaves may be slightly hairy below.

 

[fireman sam]

My money is on a Malus (apple) of some type too. Either prunifolia or maybe hupehensis but there are loads of different garden varities that it could be. Can't wait to see some shots of it in fruit to solve the mystery!

 

[Nagual]

A minor up-date on this. So far experienced gardeners and the like haven't fully ID'd it. However it does seem to be some form of hybrid crab apple. The fruit are very small, and if I recall correctly, don't grow to more than an inch at best. I have tasted them just recently and they do have a apple taste to them, however are extremely bitter. We'll have to see later on this year how they turn out.

 

[locum76]

nice one Nagual, keep us posted. I'm well interested in this one.