Splitted Arbutus unedo

Seth Ellwood wrote:Great progression one question . Will the leaves on this species reduce with time?? to me at the moment they seem to bee a little large for the size of the tree but with flowering and fruiting it is a worthy sacrifice.

Yes it is possible, but it is still not time for that, because we want branches to get thicker, and crown more dense.

I agree thanks for info.

in proper pot

Wow! I hadn't realised quite how big the tree was.

Most impressive.

Impressive! Something very intrersting and still evolving!

Many thanks!

Andrei Darusenkov

This is lovely, Marija!
I wonder..., in the photo Andrija seems to cut drastically some too heavy roots that have been kept when the tree had been collected? Or not?

my nellie wrote:This is lovely, Marija!
I wonder..., in the photo Andrija seems to cut drastically some too heavy roots that have been kept when the tree had been collected? Or not?

All arbutuses have huge round mass under the surface, we call it 'keel'. And from that 'keel' roots are growing all around. Because of it ussually is pretty much heavy to collect them. And when you collect them you have to shorten it from (at least) bottom side to plant into pot. That was done after collecting in this case. But while transplanting we have to shorten it even more 1-2 cm to be able to put it into new pot. That is not stress to plant, because in that part there were no roots. Roots are at side all around.

Really nice tree! I was unfamiliar with this species until you posted this. The flowers are an added bonus. Does it produce fruit?

Chris

Fantastic tree! And what i´ve seen on the Blog of Walter pall, it is simply breathtaking.

Regards,
Marco

coh wrote:... ... Does it produce fruit?

Yes, Chris.
The fruits are yellow-orange-red colour and very pretty. They are edible, but some people think their taste is peculiar, but I like them.
Honey is also produced from the flowers which is tasting bitter-sweet but it is very good tonic for health (cholesterol, protection against viruses, etc). This honey is also permitted to the diabetic people.

my nellie wrote:

coh wrote:... ... Does it produce fruit?

Yes, Chris.
The fruits are yellow-orange-red colour and very pretty. They are edible, but some people think their taste is peculiar, but I like them.
Honey is also produced from the flowers which is tasting bitter-sweet but it is very good tonic for health (cholesterol, protection against viruses, etc). This honey is also permitted to the diabetic people.

And Brandy is made with them also, a realy nice one!

very gracefull unedo wonderfull trunk and grate way to "dress" it.

do you find arbutus andrachne?

aristide wrote: do you find arbutus andrachne?

Arbutus andrachne is very, very rare, just few trees can be find on some islands. I have seen it, bark is really beautiful!
On island where my grandma lives there are some old legends that says that A. andrachne must not be cut or even touched otherwise something bad will happen.
Probably main aim was by such stories to protect rare plant.

yes i understand, i also like a lot the bark of andrachne and the way lives veins find their way and make great "compression wood".

here in the north of france i can't find anyone who as it. i guess i will have to go to cyprus..one day maybe.

if the plant is rare maybe it's beter that legends protect them.

i really like the simple and effiscient of the branch structure on your arbutus.long life to you and your tree

I have been trying to find info on the internet about identifying unedo from andrachne and things are vague.... My impression is that the differences are few while they have a lot of similarities...., so for me it is very difficult to distinguish one from another. Am I correct?

my nellie wrote: ... ... Well, there are two same trees (not so big and old like yours, of course) in my farmyard and I always have been considering to digg one of them up. One is standing straight up, a tree it is and the other one is kind of a bush... ...

The erect arbutus has a deep reddish bark since the bushy one has a bark that is close to greyish. Can anyone tell their difference? Just for the sake of... scientific information

Thank you!

I love the Red Bayberry tree, with " PS " imagining beauty after the results.

my nellie wrote: The erect arbutus has a deep reddish bark since the bushy one has a bark that is close to greyish. Can anyone tell their difference? Just for the sake of... scientific information
Thank you!

It is very easy to distinguish them. Bark is different colour and texture

A. andrachne


A. unedo

Blooming and fruiting (at same time!) in autumn, strawberry tree makes an unusual specimen. At this time other plants in dormancy.
So far my trees in pot are every year blooming, but no fruits.

Blooming and fruiting in autumn, strawberry tree makes an unusual specimen

Marija, thank you very much!
Unfortunately, I cannot see the first photo... my system does not open it...
Anyway I can try a new search based on trunk/bark.

Any updates on this tree? It is/will be quite spectacular. You just don't see very many Arbutus bonsai. I am planning on digging a large Arbutus unedo stump with a lot of nice natural shari next spring. I'm wondering if you do anything to preserve the deadwood.

Thanks,
Cory

I have found this tree in Norfolk,uk and have narrowed it down to Arbutus,but can anyone definativly tell which species it is and whether I could grow it for bonsai from cuttings?

Hi kingfisher, there are three native Arbutus, ei: Arizona Madrone (Arbutus arizonica), Texas Madrone (A. texana) and Pacific Madrone (A. menzieii), my personal favorite. I think the A. texana best discripes shown.

I have been able to work some A. unedo from landscape and nursery stock. I've not had good luck with the wild ones though. They are in the heath family (Ericacae) and all of that family I have found very difficult to convert to container growing, as far as collecting from the wild. I have seen some containerized ones that were started from seed in the pot. You may be able to get some seed from it if it fruits in the summer.

I love the smoothe skin and flakey bark and the natural growth of the tree makes them a natch from bonsai. I've done some prunning and shaping on trees in the ground and you can chop them to the ground and they will come back. It is a favored fuel wood in this neck of the woods, grows like weeds everywhere. Giant elegant ladies of the forest, I've seen them as big a 2-3m on the butt and 35-40m tall. We grow them big in the GPNW

BTW, I'm completely gaga over your tree Marija, best of these I've ever seen. Thank you, Rick

Thanks for your reply Rick,
This tree is right next to where I moor my boat so I will keep an eye on the fruits this summer and possible try to cultivate from seed and cuttings,that way I can see what works best and maybe try to get a few growing.

King.

Hi Kingfisher any chance of a close up photo of the leaf . It kinda looks like a Eucalyptus , an Australian gum tree .
Cheers Craig

Not for a while im afraid,that tree is 150 miles from my home.I did think that myself,but it is almost definitely a strawberry tree but  haven't witnessed any flowers or fruit as my boat was only moved next to it 2 weeks ago,at least now I can keep a close eye on it as I get up there quite a lot after xmas holidays.
These are the closest pictures I have right now