Toona sinensis -chinese mahogany

[saltcedar]

Toona sinensis -Chinese mahogany is what I was inquiring about.

[Iowaboo]

foxd, where is pic of it, easy to tell.

[Iowaboo]

please have better luck with the toona then me. My seedlings taste horrible! Like burnt oniony taste. Mine also keep dying back, so maybe not zone 5

[saltcedar]

A saltwater pre-soak or blanching before cooking in an omelet is supposed to
remove off flavors.

[Iowaboo]

I've just tried leaves right off the tree raw, so hadn't ever even cooked them. Here was my toona in 2010, grew nice from all the rain, was still in my nursery.

The other compounded leafed tree on right side is a Toxicodendron vernicifluum, black sap after pruning it..



Basswood leaves have been the best tree leaves to eat for me.

[saltcedar]

Nice trees. I have to agree they're too strong to eat raw!
Hope they survive my drought long enough to get a harvest.

[foxd]

foxd, where is pic of it, easy to tell.

I haven't posted a pic here yet, though I do have one on Facebook of the suspected Caucasian Wingnut. Not big enough to make a possitive ID on yet.

I noticed this morning another seedling has germinated in the tray. I will transplant it this evening.

It has occured to me that it is possible that the suspected Caucasian Wingnut is actually a Passiflora lutea, but it would mean that all the seedlings I'd thought were Passiflora lutea are really a bunch of Caucasian Wingnuts.

IDs will be sorted out in the next few weeks.

[Iowaboo]

pic of my wingnuts coming up

[foxd]

Lance your picture certainly suggests I have a bunch of Caucasian Wingnuts in the basement.

[foxd]

Lance your picture certainly suggests I have a bunch of Caucasian Wingnuts in the basement.

Okay, at this point both types of seedlings can put out leaves that either have the general shape of Passiflora or Wingnut.

I have three more seedlings that just sprouted, bringing the total to 8 with 5 of one and 3 of the other.

Maybe I can ID after they put out a few more leaves or the Passiflora puts out a tendril.

[foxd]

And so the mystery deepens. One of the original seedlings is now putting out tendrils, so it is definitely a vine. The leaves definitely don't look like Passiflora lutea. However, it is reported that Passiflora suberosa is sometimes sold as Passiflora lutea. Passiflora suberosa does have leaves that can vary their leaf shape. The leaves on the suberosa are as pointy and shiny as the leaves on the seedling. I think this is now IDed.

Now if I can just ID the suspected Caucasian Wingnut to know I have the right plant.

[foxd]

And so the saga continues....

Apparently I have seeds for two different varieties of Passiflora and none of the Caucasian Wingnut seeds have sprouted.

So at this point I will have to wait until the Passiflora bloom to find out definitely what I have though it looks like neither one is the Passiflora lutea I wanted.

Meanwhile, I have found the name of a Nursery that is supposed to have Caucasian Wingnut, but their website is blank, they aren't answering their email, their phone is disconnected and their voice mail on their cell phone is full.

[Iowaboo]

Are you looking for that specific species? I looked at forestfarm, and they are listing a couple different species.

I'm suprised you didn't have any come up, mine have come up pretty good. So this should mean I have 4 species now. Though I don't trust alot of sources the most, so always could be possibility some are the same species. I started trying to grow cuttings of a couple of them this year, too. Hopefully get some to take, even though didn't use any root hormones.

[foxd]

Are you looking for that specific species?

Yes, I like the idea of being able to truthfully say I have a Caucasian Wingnut stnading in the yard.

I'm suprised you didn't have any come up, mine have come up pretty good. So this should mean I have 4 species now. Though I don't trust alot of sources the most, so always could be possibility some are the same species. I started trying to grow cuttings of a couple of them this year, too. Hopefully get some to take, even though didn't use any root hormones.

I'm pretty sure that there are specific triggers for seed germination and that seeds that are reported easy to germinate just happen to have those triggers in a range that overlaps what we would by chance easily expose them to. It would certainly explain why some people report certain seeds as easy to germinate and others find them impossible. I know in order to germinate, certain seeds require temperature swings between day and night and some require light while others require darkness.

I am getting less surprised at the mislabelling of seeds as time goes on. I guess it isn't just bamboo seeds that are misrepresented.

What is your setup for cuttings?

[Iowaboo]

Haha, yeah it has a good name. Did you make sure to stratify the seeds for awhile before you tried to grow them? Cuttings I did nothing special, just stuck them in the ground like a willow, so not too excited that they'll make it. But good test to see if easy from cuttings or not.

Pterocarya fraxinifolia -seed from lawyer nursery- just started this year

Pterocarya hupehensis-plant from forestfarm, survives -15F fine, but both times dipped to -20F or worse, has died to the ground, still young though. Divided it this spring also.

Pterocarya stenoptera- seed from lawyer nursery- started few years ago, tons of seedlings came up and grew their first summer, one survived the winter, died back near the ground each year, but finally this spring didn't have any dieback.

Pterocarya rhoifolia- got a few plants from Oikos tree crops. Oikos tree crops said this was the most winter hardy of all the ones they had tried, they listed it as korean seed source. Have only noticed some tip dieback, hasn't died to the ground ever like the other two.