Thursday, June 9, 2011

One of these things is not like the others

For some reason that title insisted on being used for this post, it’s not quite right but the best I could do. My mind was stuck on those word or picture puzzles where you are given a list of things and you pick out the one that doesn’t belong. I started thinking about them when I saw this Acacia dealbata.
See the two different leaves? They are on the same plant! Of course there are several plants that have different juvenile leaves than their adult version. This must be one of them? Next up I saw this tree when out on a dog walk. I couldn’t get really close enough to get a good photograph because behind that chain link fence were a couple of very angry dogs. Hopefully you can make out how it goes from a smooth very pyramidal shape to crazy willy-nilly branches jutting out at the top. It’s like one tree is set on top of another. The last entry in this little collection is in my own garden. These leaves are growing out of the stump of a “dead” Cordyline (knocked back by winter, 3 years in a row). Last year the Cordy resprouted, this year I have these. Definitely not Cordyline leaves (one of these things is not like the others).

10 comments:

  1. Funny, my friend and I were talking about that this morning...different hydrangeas growing on the same plant. That's what's so fun about nature!

    ciao from Newport Beach

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  2. S'pose those little plants at the bottom were squatters who saw opportunity in the nice dirt where the cordy had been? Nature puts on a pretty good freak show if we keep our eyes open to it. That tree atop a tree is a real head scratcher.

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  3. The tree you saw is a dwarf form of Picea glauca, often called Dwarf Alberta Spruce. They are notorious for reverting back to the original growth habit, causing exactly what you saw. With a little time, the more vigorous, non-dwarf branches will take over.

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  4. I like the tree that has leaves jutting out of the top. It reminded me of a hat. Like the tree is on it's way to chuch, and just put on it's hat...wearing it's sunday best.

    And the first plant I like as well...the acacia dealbata? Very interesting.

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  5. Just goes to show the plant world has its freaks, too. My Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. debeuzevillei has somewhat different juvenile foliage, but that Acacia dealbata is just plain crazy!

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  6. For a moment there I thought the Spruce was a great candidate for Tree Mutilation Of The Week, until Greensparrow cleared that up. Interesting!

    Some of the Eucalyptus do that juvenile vs. mature foliage thing. I did not know Acacia did that too.

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  7. I'd say that's not Acacia dealbata, but more likely A. melanoxylon or another species. A. dealbata does not undergo a phyllode stage as far as I'm aware.

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  8. Ha...those are all bizarre, but the Spruce takes the care for all-out crazy.

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  9. Fabiana, as in different colored flowers?

    ricki, I thought that was the case until I went o pull them and they really are growing out of the cordy trunk...out of the "wood" not the soil.

    Greensparrow, this will be interesting to watch!

    ZZ, great comparison! Like maybe it was a royal wedding attendee?

    MulchMaid, freaks all around for sure!

    Hoover, thing is these folks (the yard where the tree is growing) are NOT the yard work type.

    Ian, you would certainly know better than I...I was just going by the label.

    Scott, at it sounds like it is going to get crazier too!

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  10. Oh yeah.

    I think they called those hats "fascinators" or something like that.

    I didn't even know they had a name, I just called them hats.

    But yeah, I could definately say some of the hats/fascinators that I saw that day were definately fascinating.

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