Monday, June 29, 2020

Podocarpus matudae "blooms"...

I hope you won't mind a couple more photos from Old Germantown Gardens. I took this particular photo because I've always loved this combination of Tetrapanax and Podocarpus matudae.

I stepped in closer to photograph the leaves—this a conifer, but those aren't needles...

...and that's when I spotted these!

Blooms? But on a conifer? It turns out podocarpus are generally dioecious, with the male pollen cones and female seed cones on separate plants. So I'm guessing these are early seed cones? Don't you think they look like children with their heads bent reading?

Naturally as soon as I returned home I had to go investigate my Podocarpus matudae (a gift from Sean Hogan) to see if it had any of these strange "blooms"...

Yep...there they are!

Little kids, holding a book.

Crazy! So I guess my plant is a female as well? Our neighbor to the north has a podocarpus, just a few feet from my plant. It's not a P. matudae though, interesting...

I'll be watching those little blue-headed, reading kids to see what comes of them.

Weather Diary, June 28: Hi 72, Low 56/ Precip 0 

 All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

23 comments:

  1. Your plant is behaving by the book. (Couldn't help myself).

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    1. You're channeling the Peter, The Outlaw....

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  2. Plants never fail to delight and keep us learning ;)

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  3. A very un-conifery, tropical looking conifer. Once you said they look like kids reading a book, I couldn't un-see it. A little choir of cupids. Hallelujah!

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  4. The children look quite enthralled with what they are reading.

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  5. Glad they are improving their reading and aren't playing video games, ha!

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  6. I love them! Podocarpus are common here, although possibly not this particular species, although the foliage is very similar to the variety my MIL grew. I never saw them produce children though, blue-headed or otherwise.

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    1. Perhaps her tree was male, do you remember drooping cones?

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  7. Huh, that is very fascinating! I didn't notice the children until you mentioned them. Nifty.

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    1. I saw them immediately and can't unsee them!

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  8. It is so beautiful! I love it

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  9. That variety of Podocarpus is so much more graceful in habit that the one seen commonly around here. And those of course never get the opportunity to bloom since the mow and blow dudes keep them sheared.

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  10. That is gorgeous. I need some podocarps in my life.

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  11. Jeanne DeBenedetti KeyesJuly 01, 2020

    Wow. Don't think I have ever seen those on my podocarpus. Gotta go check. Lovely image of little kids reading books, but I think it is more likely kids holding cell phones, engrossed in games, chatting with other addicted friends playing games! LOL

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