AusBonsai

hi guys

I would like some help in identifying this shrub/bush It is in my back yard and I have been bugged by it since I moved in, at first I thought it was a buxus but I dont beleive it is, then I thought possibly Murraya, but wasnt sure and even lilly pilly popped in my mind but i dont think so with the leaf shape.
as you can see the bark is rough and sort of corky, it gets berries in cluster of 2 or more (cant be 100% certain as the kids like to take them and throw them at each other.
the leaves are opposite to each other but not exactly opposite, one side of the stem to the other, the leaf is just a petiole thickness above the other. leaf size is around approximately 30-40mm long, by around 20mm wide. no bigger than that on any one of them. the overall height of the largest one is around one and a half metres, to two metres. spread on each tree os around a metre or smaller, could possibly get bigger if i was more open then it is in the hedge, which are placed around 50cm apart.

any help will be greatly appreciated


Jamie

Looks like Murraya. I have several in my garden just the same.
Mal.

Murraya has compound leaves on fine stems, Buxus has those tight leaves. Methinks.

Gavin

Definitely a Murraya dude. no doubt

hi guys,

I had an inkling it was murraya, was hoping for it to be buxus though! the thing that actually threw me is/was the bark, the murraya I had didnt have as rough, corky like bark.

its a bugger as I was going to get my cousin round to dig them, would of if they were box!

Jamie

No Box there Jamie mate, definately Murraya. That corky bark comes with age, although some Murraya never get it. Grab that fruit, squeeze it between thumb and forefinger to strip the flesh and plant seed deep in propagating mix, keep moist and in around 2 weeks you'll get a .... load of plants to play with.

thanks mate

not really keen on murraya to be honest, the bark looks nice and all but not really my thing, i got a lot of cuttings and seed going at the moment, not sure where i am going to put them all once they all germinate and strike I think I am somewhere up around the 800 mark with seed and close to the same with cuttings.

jamie

Thats gunna be a killa Group Planting there mate

Yes, Jamie, it's a Murraya! If you crush the fruits/berries, you will smell a citrus scent.

Graeme wrote:Thats gunna be a killa Group Planting there mate

you want to help me build the slab to plant it out on??? I have a half acre block, we might be able to fit it down the back would need to be penjing style, the cuttings and seed are a massive mix of boug, calliandra, fig, peach, chinese elm, zelcova, giant and coastal redwood, casuarina, redgum, pyracantha and possibly others that i cant think of!!

thuynguyen001 wrote:Yes, Jamie, it's a Murraya! If you crush the fruits/berries, you will smell a citrus scent.

thanks champ

jamie

Kool, I'll order the cement truck on my way out to your place shall I?