Can you ID this tree?

May 16, 2007 6:49 PM

Can you please ID this tree? The little pods (for lack of a better word) have the smell of a mix between honeysuckle and gardenia. Any ideas what kind of tree this is? The largest size shows the best detail. Thanks!
posted by GlowWyrm to home & garden (11 answers total)

I think that might be a cottonwood. Not sure, though.
posted by Lockjaw at 7:33 PM on May 16, 2007

Possibly a trembling aspen?

Or some other type of aspen.
posted by frobozz at 7:48 PM on May 16, 2007

Looks like a linden to me. The scent is absolutely gorgeous.
posted by judith at 7:55 PM on May 16, 2007

Where are you located?
posted by 517 at 8:04 PM on May 16, 2007

The flowers look like a cottonwood. But the leaves don't look quite right.

Do you know what the tree's seeds look like? Cottony windblown fluff, or what?
posted by CKmtl at 8:07 PM on May 16, 2007

Aspens and cottonwoods are both poplars - populus genus - which could narrow the search. Balsam poplar looks promising as well.
posted by frobozz at 8:25 PM on May 16, 2007

The leaves look like lilac, and so does the bloom, although a bit narrow. Yellow lilacs are rare. Do they smell like lilac? I'm guessing family Oleaceae.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:25 PM on May 16, 2007

This looks exactly like your picture to me. It's a Chinese tallow tree - Triadica sebifera.
posted by frobozz at 8:30 PM on May 16, 2007

I, too, was thinking that it was quite similar to a lilac, but not quite there.

I tihnk frobozz took it, though. Check out the Wikipedia page on the Chinese tallow that he suggested: it looks a lot like your photos. Are you in the South? That's where it seems to thrive.
posted by fogster at 10:02 PM on May 16, 2007

I am in Texas. Yes, I think frobozz identified it. Thanks for everyone's help. :)
posted by GlowWyrm at 5:26 AM on May 17, 2007

Not a linden -- we have a 60' tall one in our yard, and it looks pretty similar but doesn't have a distinctive scent.
posted by scratch at 6:27 AM on May 17, 2007