AusBonsai

Hope someone knows this one as I can't think of anything to check against. Initially the bracts suggested Tilia sp. (Lindens) but all the pics I can find are of a long, single bract with seeds hanging on long stalks, this one has clusters of distinctive 3 lobed bract around the unstalked fruit.
The plant is a small tree about 5 or 6 m tall. Hoping someone has some idea, thanks

Hey Shibui,

It is a Hazelnut... YUM YUM YUM

I have not seen them used as bonsai but I have seen contorta used so it should be possible...

Matt

Forgot species... Corylus

Sorry Matt, Thanks for the try. There are lots of hazlenuts growing in this area - there's 2hectares of then just over my back fence (noisy bloody cockies) but this one is definitely not a hazlenut.
Any other ideas?

shibui wrote:Sorry Matt, Thanks for the try. There are lots of hazlenuts growing in this area - there's 2hectares of then just over my back fence (noisy bloody cockies) but this one is definitely not a hazlenut.
Any other ideas?

HHMMMM
Lots of Hazelnuts growing in the area & lots of cockatoos eating & carting off nuts.... it certainly looks like Corylus avellana.. they need cross pollination & they are all hybrids..... seed of hybrid a hybrid cross....

But your certain and I am stumped off to bed now but will pick a friends brain in the morning for you..

Edit: I dont like being stumped... grrrr dog with a bone..

edit 2: spelling

Hi Shibui
Here's something to chew on. Using the Hort Flora of SE Aust, I fairly easily got to Betulaceae/Corylus (Hornbeam).
Two species are listed there. My first guess would be that C. betulus (European hornbeam) is more likely than C. caroliniana (American hornbeam), based on the floral bracts of Cb being regularly toothed rather than irregularly toothed. Cb should have overwintering bud scales with a little hair on the tips of the bracts whereas Cc has overwintering bracts that are distinctly hairy and also the young branchlets are also hairy in Cc.
Cheers
Roger

Hi Shibui, I think Roger is on the mark, hornbeam was the first thing which sprung to my mind when I saw the foliage of your tree. The other thing I thought of was Lindera ?
Craigw

European hornbeam. See photo on http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/down ... =667900308

The hornbeams i have are much lighter green and a little pointier than that.

It is almost definatly in the Betulaceae family (which also includes the birch and hazel) ,most probably carpinus/hornbeam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betulaceae
There are many different carpinus species and it is not uncommon for them to hybridize. From the pictures it is possible it is European hornbeam although mine has bigger leaves than that and Bodi's are also different agian that would not surprise me.
Bracts look very much like European hornbeam but that is not enough to make a true Id. I would love to see more pictures of the tree including the trunk/bark, buds and more leaves that are not curled over altering the shape and I should be much more confident in the ID.
A 5-6m tree of a hornbeam sounds great. I would love to see a full sized pic as well if possible.
Maybe I could buy some seeds of you come Autumn Always looking for new variations of the hornbeam family.

If it flowers etc it might be a Dogwood which has lots of cultivars.

Thanks guys,
The pics of Carpinus betulus in the link look spot on. The leaves certainly look carpinus like but the winged fruit had me tossed and the leaves were sufficiently different from the few other Carpinus i have seen to cause hesitation. Thanks for the help.
There are references to several named cultivars of C. betulus which may account for the different leaf characteristics.

Bretts, I will get back to you when i can get pics of the full tree and I'll send through a larger shot of the leaves etc. Note all leaves are slightly curled on this specimen. The tree is in Mansfield, a couple of hours away from me. I will also get Mum (its just across the road from her house) to watch out for the seed ripening - just have to hope it is self fertile and the seed is viable.

Thanks again everyone.