Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Plant Identification => Plant Identification Questions and Answers => Topic started by: arisaema on September 08, 2011, 01:14:33 PM
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Any guesses to what this might be? It was sown from seeds received as Hedysarum hedysaroides back in 2005, and has never flowered. About a meter tall, woody stems, hardy down to -20C...
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Do you know who send you the seeds (land, source of collection)?
There are a lot of different plants with the foliage you show.
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I was thinking of Colutea.
Rob
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it looks too small and slow growing to be a Colutea. My guess would be something like Sophora davidii which is very slow from seed and has the same rounded leaflets; however, they are less broad on the plant in my garden. I think this takes quite a few years to reach flowering size.
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Thanks all! The seeds came from a Swedish seed exchange and are bound to be "ex garden", so it won't help the identification I'm afraid.
Two people have suggested Colutea, in which case it's going on the compost heap... Are new shots/stems and leaves on Colutea white furry like they are on my plant? I can't find any good pictures online showing just that...
Sophora davidii would be lovely, and it's furry like my own plant - but would it have survived -20C unscathed?
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Yes - the Sophora is exceptionally hardy, some coming from the Tibetan plateau and inland parts of China! The description in Bean speaks of downy young shoots. It might need really hot summers to flower well.
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Gunilla Hansen in Sweden sent out seed of Sophora davidii a few years ago (3? 4?) so it may be worth asking her.
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My first impression was Sophora davidii. I grew this in Kansas and it endured -15F with no issues. It was the wet summer clay soil that did it in. It was a pretty blue and white flowered shrub while it lasted. I was told it grows in pure sand in some areas of Tibet so drainage was my main issue growing it.
Aaron