Sunday, May 18, 2008

Botany 101: Name That Plant

I'm looking for some help in identifying a couple of plants.

On my way to NYC, I saw many of these trees along the train route. I spotted this one in a park-like spot along Broadway on the Upper West Side. The trees are about 20' x 20'.


The tree's flowers grow up on top of the branch.


This little bugger was in Riverside Park. It was about 18" tall, the bell shaped flowers pretty, and seemed to be quite hearty. Reminds me of the Lily Of The Nile (Agapanthus) we had in California.


Any ideas?
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14 comments:

ArichNY said...

It reminds me of a Chinese Dogwood ornamental tree I had in one of my plantings in the backyard.

I've been in that park! Joe and Joy used to live up on West End Avenue near 91st St.

Gavin said...

That's it! A Kousa Dogwood commonly known as the Japanese Flowering Dogwood. Now to find out the little flower!

michael sean morris said...

The top one is definitely a dogwood - the floral emblem of my home province of British Columbia!

I think one would make an excellent addition to your already beautiful yard; when they are in bloom they are gorgeous. The flowers remind me of wraiths.

michael sean morris said...

The smaller ones grow wild all over Vancouver, and are also out right now. I've always just called then bluebells.

Doralong said...

The tree is indeed a Japanese dogwood, the flower does look like the white variant of Bluebell quite a lot. I often wondered why they didn't give it it's won name, since it's obviously not blue- but that's neither here nor there...

ArichNY said...

Is there a Chinese Dogwood too? That's what mine was labeled when I bought it!

evilganome said...

I concur with the Chinese Dogwood. I think the blue flowers are Virginia bluebells. I'd have to double check on that though.

Gavin said...

Okay, I'm confused on the dogwood. When I checked last night on "Chinese Dogwood" it came up with the "Kousa Dogwood" and said it was commonly called "Japanese Dogwood." I just found a Kousa Dogwood that said both Chinese and Japanese are the common names. Oy!

Gavin said...

Oh, I looked up the Virginia bluebells but I don't think that is it. They look like they have oval shaped flowers but these are long thin and pointed. I will check my books, too.

Doralong said...

Well, the Virginia Belle suggests you consult your local Master Gardener and save yourself hours of stress..

ArichNY said...

The bluebell flowers have two common names: the Japanese Sayonara blossom, or the Chinese Mah Jong blossom. (Do I have a serious bone in my body?)

Lacey said...

Well, I'm not much help. I'm sure it's a dogwood, but really don't think it's Kousa. I have one, and it does not look like that. I suppose mine could have been mislabeled when I bought it.

Anonymous said...

The flowers are The Common Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta, syn. Endymion non-scriptus, Scilla non-scripta) is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. We have them everywhere where we live, blue, white, and some slightly pink.

Gavin said...

I just ordered 15 bulbs, described as English Bluebells, so wish me luck next spring!