8

Does anybody know what this plant is?

I took these pictures today in Moldova, Eastern Europe.

it's a bush, 1.5 meters tall, the leave size of my hand, there were more of them growing from the root have been cut off, haven't seen any flowers yet, growing for 2 years already

these were planted on purpose, we were told they are Aronia, but they obviously aren't

Click on pictures for bigger view.

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

larger pictures:

https://postimg.org/image/liqijn9fh

https://postimg.org/image/zarxk71ux

https://postimg.org/image/hlbdpz65x

november update: leaves have fallen off:

enter image description here

2019 UPDATE: it finally made fruit here's the pictures: green fruit ripe fruit ripe fruit and leaves ripe fruit close

Omu
  • 295
  • 2
  • 10
  • The last figure seems something similar artichoke. From the other picture, I would also subscribe for a member of the family of _Asteraceae_ ( _Compositae_ ). I cannot indentify it. – Giacomo Catenazzi Oct 21 '16 at 19:29
  • Omu, need more information. I need some scale...are these leaves more than 6" or less than 6". Have you seen any seed pods, flowers? – stormy Oct 21 '16 at 21:06
  • Giacomo; I got stuck in Paeonia!! But I also thought artichoke. Too woody of a perennial for artichoke or thistle. You would think heavily tomentose leaves would be easier to suss out. I did get as far as Inula helenium which is asteraceae and then threw up my hands. Are you using subshrub or shrub? Or tree? for starters. My goodness. Hey, I cannot identify it either!! Wish I had my library of BOOKS. Doing this on the internet is worse than working with microscopes for 3 hours at a time...arrrgghhh! – stormy Oct 21 '16 at 21:13
  • it's a bush, 1.5 meters tall, the leave size of my hand, there were more of them growing from the root have been cut off, haven't seen any flowers yet, growing for 2 years already – Omu Oct 21 '16 at 21:46
  • Can you find any seed capsules on the ground? Lovely leaves! Great cinnamon colored bark. – stormy Oct 22 '16 at 23:24
  • no, there is nothing on the ground, it did not have any flowers, I have been looking/checking on it the whole summer – Omu Oct 23 '16 at 08:11
  • Someone here will be able to ID this guy! It isn't everyday one finds a plant with huge, dark green with lovely tomentose undersides!! I am dying to know what this is!! – stormy Oct 24 '16 at 20:38
  • Giacomo...this MIGHT just be in the composite family!! Any luck on your end? – stormy Oct 24 '16 at 23:15
  • Is there a large cut stump nearby? I'm just wondering if these are suckers off something like a tree that was once alive there if there are so many of them – Bamboo Oct 24 '16 at 23:49
  • No, there is no stump nearby, these were planted on purpose, we were told they are Aronia, but they obviously aren't – Omu Oct 25 '16 at 07:33
  • Oh I see - and I agree, doesn't look any Aronia I've ever seen... does it retain its leaves all winter? – Bamboo Oct 25 '16 at 11:34
  • @Bamboo leaves have fallen off already, didn't had to wait for the winter, question updated with picture – Omu Nov 07 '16 at 16:01
  • @Omu - well that would fit with its being a deciduous tree such as one of the Sorbus - but no one in their right minds wouild deliberately plant so many so close together if it were Sorbus of some variety - unless the original tree was cut right down and these are coming off the rootstock.I don't know what it actually is I'm afraid. And the trouble with growth from a rootstock is, it doesn't always look exactly like the original plant... – Bamboo Nov 08 '16 at 13:34

3 Answers3

5

Update 2019, see below:

I think this is a young Whitebeam. Perhaps Sorbus hybrida or S. latifolia or S. intermedia.

Brenn
  • 3,046
  • 11
  • 23
  • Sure looks good, Brenn. The scale throws me a bit...what the heck are you using for a key? I spent years learning to use the Pacific Northwest dichotomous Key and learning how to do hit or miss on the internet. Did you buy an app? – stormy Oct 30 '16 at 19:36
  • 1
    @stormy, I grew up with horticulturalists as parents, worked in a nursery for 15 years and was a bit of a collector. I once had about 1200 species of plants in my garden and in a rented greenhouse. As a collector, you become obsessed with taxonomy and when you're very close to live plants of a vast array of Families, you start to immediately recognize certain traits that allows you to narrow down the specimen to at least a Family, if not Genus. – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 20:35
  • 1
    In this case, I too thought the leathery, upcurled leaves were viburnum like but then remembered that there was a fused-leaflet form of Sorbus. A quick search for palmate Sorbus led me to an approximate ID. – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 20:35
  • Thank you @susanabra for specifying the ID. Please post your conclusion as an answer. – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 20:36
  • @stormy I use dichotomous keys when trying to pinpoint cactus or orchid species. Because those Families are huge and can be so similar! – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 21:49
  • Lastly, @stormy, I have a university degree in botany and a Master Gardeners' diploma. But that doesn't really contribute to IDing. – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 21:53
  • Ps. @stormy, I hope you can help the question I'm about to post. I know little about fruiting plant culture. I have a Mission Fig that I have to deal with in a temperate zone. I will post my question soon. – Brenn Oct 30 '16 at 23:07
  • I just love this...we all come from such different realms. We can learn so very much from each other. You didn't have to take Botanical Taxonomy??? Grueling yet oh so very humbling...we had to ID using frozen and quickly thawing flowers with of course microscopes. Luckily for me microscopes kept me from falling asleep. Fruiting plant culture...you mean food gardening? I'll be nice! Major grins...huggs. – stormy Oct 31 '16 at 06:22
  • Lol @stormy... yes, "food gardening". :) – Brenn Oct 31 '16 at 18:23
  • I've updated my question with new pictures with fruit – Omu Oct 01 '19 at 21:16
2

Sorbus x hybrida, Swedish service tree or oakleaf mountain ash, is what I thought. That might also explain the confusion with 'serviceberry' (ameliancher) and 'service tree' (sorbus x hybrida).

susanabra
  • 165
  • 4
  • I've updated my question with new pictures with fruit – Omu Oct 01 '19 at 21:16
  • The fruit clinches it for me. We have these growing quite a few places around here (Southern Denmark). The fruits hang on long after the leaves are gone. The birds seem much more interested in the Sorbus aucuparia fruits, but then, so am I. These are really nice little trees, though, and not nearly as weedy. – susanabra Nov 16 '19 at 13:29
-1

Here is an idea, my goodness this has just taken up my entire day. I am so obsessive with IDing. This is the closest I've found; Montanou grandiflora, Tree Chrysanthemum or Pom Pom tree. Pom Pom tree

stormy
  • 40,098
  • 3
  • 31
  • 75
  • Can't be - its been growing two years, and Montanou grandiflora is tender, it'd never survive the winters in Moldova, surely – Bamboo Oct 24 '16 at 23:37
  • No kidding Bamboo!! Have you tried looking this plant up? This leaf is seriously unforgetable. Should have been a simple ID. If you look down to about the 4th picture, that is as close as I've come. Dark green, heavy texture, the ability to see a bit of the tomentose underside of the leaf...because it outlines the leaf viewing from above. There are incongrous details for this plant to be indigenous. Large leaved stuff will survive if it is a herbaceous perennial...this reminds me of Leather Leaf Viburnum which can handle zone 3 just fine. – stormy Oct 25 '16 at 02:41
  • I had a brief look initially, but, then looked up Montanou and found it was tender... – Bamboo Oct 25 '16 at 11:24
  • What do you think of Brenn's ID??? – stormy Oct 30 '16 at 19:38