AusBonsai

Asd i said i have my doubnts on this ones, was told it was privet, and at the start thought it was myself.

As im not all that experienced with plant ID i thought while i was in the area i would dig some up and if it turned out they were useless i would turf them.

They have a lot of very fine thorns along the branches as you can see, very small leaves and some of them had small yellow/orange berries before i knocked them off and stuck them in the potting mix to recover beofre i did anything drastic with them.

If anyone also has some pictures of privet in the wild before it was dug up i would appreciate it as i could use this for future reference when im hunting around for some.

Gareth

ID SOLVED


Pittosporum multiflorum - by Joel

G'day Gareth, no mate , I am pretty sure it's not a type of Privet, Privets don't have thorns, I have them growing in my area, they are like a Native Hawthorn, they are actually a pest, they probably wouldn't amount to much as a Bonsai.

Imagine trying to wire one

Yes thats what i thought, and my fingers are very sore indeed, me and the missus have been pulling our throns for a few days now!

Anyone have an idea of what these actually are? Just so i can tell the property owner in order to erradicate them effectively if they are a pest?

Also, anyone got some picture of privet in the wild so i can identify when i do come across them?

From what i understand there is a small leaf, broad leaf and chinese privet that grow in the wild in Australia?

Gareth

Definitely not privet. Sorry I don't know what it is but do remember putting one of a small dried branches on the chair of my form class teacher about 15 years ago.

Well i suppose even weeds that arnt useful for bonsai come in handy some times!!!!


HAHAHA, thats gold.

Could be an African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum).

I assume that whatever it is i should throw it in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks to kill it and then put it in the bin?

The consensus from what your responses are is NO GOOD FOR BONSAI.

Thanks for the help guys.

Gareth

no idea what it is, El could be right with boxthorn, what i think though is that it looks rather twiggy with the small leaves aswell, if you could find one with larger more interesting trunks i think you could use the trees twiggy structure and small leaves to your advantage, with the thorns nip them off before you work on them

Here are some threads you might want to check out, I think they have potential to be good bonsai, but with so many of these everywhere your selection of material might be worthwhile rethinking.


viewtopic.php?f=122&t=2752&p=30494&hili ... orn#p30494
viewtopic.php?f=130&t=331&p=2481&hilit= ... horn#p2481

Perhaps, but the MASSIVE number of throsn make me consider just throwing them, the picture in the pot is one of three pots i have full of these, so i do have some choice, the bones of each of the plants that i picked has potential, but with a thron every half a centimeter on each branch, even if i clipped them all off, it make me think that without a postivie ID it might be wort throwing them and considering another species.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

It doesnt look like boxthorn to me, it reminds me of a native but I cant remember the name of it. Skippy showed me one when I was at his place recently, maybe he can chime in with the name. The only thing that also doesnt sit right with that potential ID is it having berries, any chance you could get a photo of the fruit to aid with ID? Also a close up of the bark, it all helps.

Matt

Hi Guys,

i pulled all the berries off (stupid me), i think it would be easier to just bin them, i was really looking for privet too, so i think safest bet is to get rid of them.

Thanks for the input guys, really appreciate it.

Gareth

kvan64 wrote:Definitely not privet. Sorry I don't know what it is but do remember putting one of a small dried branches on the chair of my form class teacher about 15 years ago.

LOL Sounds like something I would have done too

It certainly looks like a native known locally as Black Thorn. As the plant grows the older bark can take on a blackish colour and has small white flowers. It forms a scatty, leggy, tall (6-8 ft. in our climate) bush.

Watch out for those thorns. If it is the same one as we have around here, thorn wounds usually are quite painful and prone to inflamation.

Jan

Well going just on the thorns i can tell you that they are indeed quite painful and are a little inflamed, so maybe it is a possitive ID haha.

To the bin it goes.

Thanks guys.