Tree Identifyer Site?

In Garden Centers and some DIY shops one can pick up "bonsai trees". These trees come, usually in a blue pot and without any indication as to the plant name, other than the note that they are "indoor plants". Is there a site which shows pictures of the trunk and the leaves so that conclusive identification of these 'run of the mill' plants can be seen and identification made? I have about ten of these tiny little plants which I want to grow on into sensible sized bonsai, but would like to know what I have before progressing.

first 3 hits when i run "bonsai tree identification" through the googles...

http://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/bonsai-identification

http://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species

http://guide.makebonsai.com/the-bonsai-tree-species-guide

also, members of this forum have known to be very helpful when presented with pictures and asking for help IDing a specific tree

hope that helps

Your best bet will be to post a close-up picture of the tree, showing its leaves or needles. The picture should be taken at eye level, and be placed in from of a plain-colored, contrasting background. The little "bonsai" often are very young, and pictures of th bark would not be that helpful.

Books, such as Tomlinson's "Complete Book of Bonsai" or Gordon Owen's "Growing Classic Bonsai" have many pages devoted to bonsai ID. Both of those are readily available used.

Justclox, do you have a garden or are you restricted to "indoor" bonsai?

justclox wrote:In Garden Centers and some DIY shops one can pick up "bonsai trees". These trees come, usually in a blue pot and without any indication as to the plant name, other than the note that they are "indoor plants".  Is there a site which shows pictures of the trunk and the leaves so that conclusive identification of these 'run of the mill' plants can be seen and identification made? I have about ten of these tiny little plants which I want to grow on into sensible sized bonsai, but would like to know what I have before progressing.

You're in the UK, so from the sources you name the trees are most likely to be:

Chinese elm
Ficus retusa / microcarpa
Fukien tea
Serissa foetida
Sageretia theezans
Podocarpus macrophyllus

A google image search on those should get you started.

I bought the book by Tomlinson and it has answered my questions. So a big thanks to all who replied, I appreciate it.

Alistair

It takes far more skill to grow a tree indoors successfully than outdoors in the UK. If you have a garden you have a boat load of options open to you - Junipers, Pines, Elms and a lot more to boot. Unless you have a very airy, bright conservatory that doesn't get toasted by central heating most 'indoor' bonsai will slowly decline indoors, the last ones to go being Ficus or Chinese Elm.