The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Identification => Topic started by: RCTman on August 11, 2018, 07:14:46 pm

Title: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 11, 2018, 07:14:46 pm
Can some one identify  this plant please ,
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: doganjo on August 11, 2018, 07:42:43 pm
If it has lilac/blue flowers I'd guess at a variety of Bugle (Ajuga)
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: cloddopper on August 11, 2018, 09:44:13 pm
it looks a bit like a sprig of bitter sweet .. do you know if the shrub it came off is evergreen?

 I put " the shrub bitter sweet" into Google " & looked at images

Title: Re: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 12, 2018, 10:19:05 pm
someone carried this into our club on Friday hoping we could identify it. It was growing in his back garden. it has thorns  on the stem. One person said it was crab apple??  will find out more.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Cheviot on August 13, 2018, 09:09:38 am
Firethorn? I can’t for the life of me remember it’s proper name.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: doganjo on August 13, 2018, 10:33:41 am
Firethorn? I can’t for the life of me remember it’s proper name.
Firethorn Pyracantha - not that - it has different glossy leaves.  But if it has thorns it's not bugle either
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Cheviot on August 14, 2018, 08:13:59 am
The fruit looks very similar to what grows on my pyracantha, although as you say the leaves are different.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Fleecewife on August 14, 2018, 10:08:52 am
The fruit looks like the kind of quince that grows on Japonica, but again the leaves are wrong.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Ghdp on August 14, 2018, 08:10:01 pm
I thought of the fruit on japonica. Does it have thorns. I remember a thorny bush with such fruit in the garden where I was a child.We were told it was japonica.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Fleecewife on August 14, 2018, 10:51:55 pm
I just checked my japonica (in the dark...). Its leaves have smooth edges and are less round than the ones in the pic, and a lighter green, but their arrangement along the stem, in little bunches, is the same.  The flowers are a stunning red, about an inch across, and the fruit are very hard and dark green, but not spotted like the one in the pic.  You can make a jelly from the fruit, but it made me very unwell when I tried it many years ago, so I haven't bothered since.  Latin name chaenomeles japonica.


Then I found this pic:


www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1ASUM_enGB714GB714&tbm=isch&q=japonica+shrub+pictures&chips=q:japonica+shrub+pictures,online_chips:chaenomeles+japonica&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiP682awe3cAhXIDsAKHUctBqkQ4lYIKSgB&biw=1262&bih=566&dpr=1.5#imgrc=UjynJVqCWr70JM (http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1ASUM_enGB714GB714&tbm=isch&q=japonica+shrub+pictures&chips=q:japonica+shrub+pictures,online_chips:chaenomeles+japonica&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiP682awe3cAhXIDsAKHUctBqkQ4lYIKSgB&biw=1262&bih=566&dpr=1.5#imgrc=UjynJVqCWr70JM):

The fruit are spotted as is the specimen and if you look closely the leaves do have the rounded scalloped border.  So I'm happy that this is the specimen identified
:bow:  Anyone agree?
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: arobwk on August 15, 2018, 12:15:23 am
My bet - flowering quince.  Must say that the leaves do seem rather dark, but there are many varieties and, as far as I know, a variety of leaf shapes. For greater certainty, could you cut the fruit in half horizontally and post a pic RTCman.   
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Perris on August 15, 2018, 06:49:12 am
x2; it looks similar in its essentials to a quince in my garden.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 15, 2018, 11:34:42 am
AROBWK, I have asked my mate if he could get another sample, will see him Friday, I will get back with more info hopefully.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Fleecewife on August 15, 2018, 12:46:06 pm
AROBWK, I have asked my mate if he could get another sample, will see him Friday, I will get back with more info hopefully.


Also worth asking what the flowers are like.


Flowering quince is another name for Chaenomeles Japonica
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Steph Hen on August 15, 2018, 01:17:46 pm
Quince is what came to my mind?
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 19, 2018, 09:42:17 pm
Received another 2 cuttings off this plant (see photos) he thinks it had white flowers.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 19, 2018, 09:52:47 pm
AROBWK, I've cut one horizontally for you to see, sorry for the quality of the photos, its been a long day out since 6 this morning until 9 tonight in sheepdog trials.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: Fleecewife on August 20, 2018, 11:58:39 pm
I cut one of my Japonica quince fruits in half horizontally, and it matches your specimen exactly.  The flowers are definitely red - not sure if there's a white cultivar.
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: RCTman on August 21, 2018, 07:57:32 pm
Brilliant Fleecewife, then that's it JAPONICA QUINCE it is. Thank you all for your help
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: arobwk on August 22, 2018, 12:13:32 am
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles) confirmed then!Have to say though that there are other species of flowering quince besides C Japonica and many hybridized varieties. I seem to think they are often referred to as C Japonica whatever their origin.  I'm not 100% certain that all species/hybrids have the same tell-tale 5x seed-pockets, but 5x seed-pockets does it for me (albeit, RTCman, that 2 seed-pockets have not developed on your pictured example).   
Not eatable raw even when ripe, as far as I know, but edible (quince jelly anyone?)
 
 
Title: Re: what is this
Post by: SallyintNorth on August 22, 2018, 11:35:37 am
I’ve used quince in porridge, stewed fruit, etc.  I absolutely love it.