Untitled Flashcards Set

Here’s a breakdown of key identification features for the plants on your list. These features will help you recognize them during your walk.

1. Abies concolor (White or Concolor Fir)

  • Needles: Flat, soft, and bluish-green; arranged in a single plane. Needles curve upward.

  • Cones: Upright, cylindrical, and pale green to purplish.

  • Bark: Smooth and gray when young, becoming furrowed with age.

  • Location: Far East Garden.

2. Agarista populifolia (Coast Leucothoe or Florida Doghobble)

  • Leaves: Evergreen, lance-shaped, glossy green, and leathery.

  • Growth Habit: Dense, arching shrub; often forms thickets.

  • Flowers: Small, white, bell-shaped, and fragrant.

  • Location: Old Conifer Collection.

3. Araucaria araucana (Monkey Puzzle Tree)

  • Leaves: Stiff, spiky, triangular, and arranged spirally around the branches.

  • Form: Pyramidal with an open structure.

  • Bark: Grayish-brown and deeply ridged.

  • Location: Near Lath House.

4. Berberis spp. (Mahonia)

  • Leaves: Pinnately compound, leathery, and spiny-edged.

  • Flowers: Bright yellow, in upright clusters.

  • Fruit: Small, blue-black berries.

  • Location: Old Conifer Collection.

5. Buxus microphylla var. japonica (Littleleaf Boxwood)

  • Leaves: Small, oval, bright green, and glossy; slightly larger than other boxwoods.

  • Growth Habit: Compact, dense, rounded shrub.

  • Location: Garden North Side.

6. Buxus sempervirens (Common Boxwood)

  • Leaves: Small, dark green, oval, and glossy with a strong scent when crushed.

  • Growth Habit: Dense, upright shrub or small tree.

  • Location: Garden North Side.

7. Cunninghamia lanceolata (Common Chinafir)

  • Leaves: Needle-like, sharp, and spirally arranged; green with a bluish tinge.

  • Bark: Reddish-brown, peels off in strips.

  • Growth Habit: Pyramidal tree with drooping branches.

  • Location: Garden Far East Side.

8. Danae racemosa (Poet’s Laurel or Alexandrian Laurel)

  • Leaves: Flattened, glossy green stems (actually modified stems called cladodes).

  • Growth Habit: Arching, graceful evergreen shrub.

  • Flowers: Small and inconspicuous.

  • Fruit: Bright orange to red berries.

  • Location: Old Conifer Collection.

9. Elaeagnus pungens (Thorny Elaeagnus)

  • Leaves: Silver-scaled underside with green and silvery-brown top; leathery texture.

  • Growth Habit: Sprawling or climbing shrub with thorny branches.

  • Flowers: Small, fragrant, and silvery-white.

  • Location: Parking Lot.

10. Osmanthus heterophyllus (Holly Tea Olive)

  • Leaves: Variable; young leaves spiny like holly, mature leaves smooth-edged.

  • Flowers: Small, white, and intensely fragrant.

  • Location: Near North Lawn.

11. Picea pungens (Colorado Spruce)

  • Needles: Stiff, sharp, and blue-green to silvery.

  • Cones: Cylindrical, light brown with papery scales.

  • Bark: Scaly and grayish-brown.

  • Location: Front Parking Lot Area.

12. Pinus bungeana (Lacebark Pine)

  • Needles: In bundles of three, bright green, and slightly twisted.

  • Bark: Smooth and peeling in patches, revealing a mosaic of colors (white, green, and gray).

  • Location: Conifer Collection.

13. Podocarpus macrophyllus (Chinese Podocarpus)

  • Leaves: Narrow, leathery, dark green, and arranged spirally.

  • Growth Habit: Upright shrub or small tree with dense foliage.

  • Location: Lath House.

14. Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal Redwood)

  • Leaves: Flat, linear, bright green needles with white bands underneath.

  • Bark: Reddish-brown, fibrous, and deeply furrowed.

  • Location: Old Conifer Collection.

15. Thujopsis dolabrata (False Arborvitae)

  • Leaves: Scale-like, glossy green on top, with a whitish underside.

  • Bark: Reddish-brown and peeling.

  • Growth Habit: Dense, conical tree with pendulous branchlets.

  • Location: Near Big Crape Myrtles.

Let me know if you'd like further details or assistance with these plants!