Is this tree a cedar?

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by gfixler, Dec 9, 2009.

  1. gfixler

    gfixler Active Member

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    I tried for awhile to ID this one, figuring it would be easy with the bizarre little artichoke-like cones it produces, but to no avail. I'd love to track down the species. The lady who lives right behind this LA street tree said she remembers when it was a little sapling 20 years ago, so it's probably a few years older than that in these pics. She didn't know what type of tree it was. Thanks!
     

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    Last edited: Dec 9, 2009
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Taxodium.
     
  3. gfixler

    gfixler Active Member

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  4. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Yes, Taxodium distichum.
     
  5. naserrano

    naserrano Member

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    This plant is not a Taxodium distichum, the leaves are different, but it could be Taxodium ascendens, but it has been a while since I have studied that plant

    Hope that helps
     
  6. gfixler

    gfixler Active Member

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    Hi naserrano,

    I had a look through a bunch of T. ascendens, but the species name, meaning "going up," seems to apply to the leaves. In most of the examples I found online, every thin leaf is pointing straight up, vertically toward the sky, which seems to be where the name comes from. They were in haphazard directions on my tree. I just went back to have a look at it (it's a few blocks away from my house) and most of the leaves have fallen off here in early December. They're all piled up on the ground, though, so I grabbed a handful and brought them back for further study. They're shaped just like the leaves seen here on T. distichens. They're all flat and spread out like that in a slightly irregular fan. I'm thinking my pics, which are from early August show juvenile leaves that are all still opening and spreading. I'll keep my mind open about it, though, and continue the research.

    Thanks!
     
  7. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Nope, not T. ascendens. That doesn't have the leaves in flat sprays like this. I'd accept that the leaves on this specimen are on the short side for T. distichum, but still within its range of variation. The two species (varieties, according to some botanists) do intergrade though.
     
  8. naserrano

    naserrano Member

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    I apologize if I am wrong, but the images posted here do not seem to have leaves in flat sprays, they seem to be going all around the little stems.
     
  9. gfixler

    gfixler Active Member

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    I've added 6 new pics of dead leaves from the pile I found under the tree today. There were hundreds, if not thousands of these surrounding it in a dense carpet, and I think they might lend evidence to it being T. distichum. In the original pics they appeared whorled, as naserrano mentioned, but I think they're actually branching out in 2D, but just too young to have enough space, and thus the leaflets were pushing each other out into the 3D shape. They still seem to follow an alternate layout, though.

    Actually, it got me looking more closely at the youngest leaves at the tips in one or two pics, and it seems that they actually unfold laterally first, like a book opening, and then grow to spread out the distance between the leaflets, as seen in these newer pics of the old, dead leaves, which are pretty flat in layout.

    Any thoughts? They do still appear pretty tiny. It seemed none were much longer than about 4"-5".
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2009
  10. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Yep, T. distichum ;-)
     
  11. naserrano

    naserrano Member

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    I'll agree with that now
     
  12. gfixler

    gfixler Active Member

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    I'm glad we reached a consensus! Thanks everyone for your help.
     

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