Can you identify this tree/shrub?

May 14, 2013 12:47 PM

Can you identify this tree/shrub? Here are 3 pictures.
posted by cranberrymonger to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Looks like a ficus to me (but I'm not an expert)
posted by kbuxton at 1:03 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Its a ficus no?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_elastica

Also that trained braided trunk is pretty typical.
posted by JPD at 1:04 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Ficus benjamina, I think.
posted by jquinby at 1:12 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm not convinced that it's a ficus. Ficus benjamina leaves are quite thin and less glossy, and also have a more pronounced point. Those leaves look more citrus-y to my eye.
posted by pipeski at 1:16 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Gardenias are sometimes found with braided trunks, too.

It also looks a bit like a jasmine plant.
posted by fancyoats at 1:26 PM on May 14, 2013

Response by poster: If it helps... there was one similar to it that had its leaves shaped into a spiral around a braided trunk. The leaves are quite tightly clustered.
posted by cranberrymonger at 1:34 PM on May 14, 2013

Best answer: I'm a complete amateur who loves questions like this, but this one is a stumper! F. benjamina/weeping fig leaves are quite thin and sprout from rather flimsy stems, and F. elastica/rubber plant leaves are much larger and often varigated in color.

If you crush or tear one of the leaves, does it smell like anything? Has it flowered at all? It almost looks like buds are sprouting in the close-up photo.

My first thought was also that it could be some type of citrus, perhaps a Meyer lemon or key lime, though the reddish stem/thick, waxy leaf combo is throwing me off.
Some others that came to mind -- bay laurel, lemon myrtle, or even some type of boxwood?

A term you might use in further searches is ball topiary.
posted by divined by radio at 1:40 PM on May 14, 2013

I'll throw in a vote for Ficus microcarpa.
posted by purpleclover at 2:21 PM on May 14, 2013

Looks like some sort of laurel to me.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:35 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I added a 4th photo to the Flickr set to show the flower buds. They're tiny right now and there aren't many.

I broke a leaf and smelled it but it didn't smell like much. At first I thought it was citrus-y but I think it was just the power of suggestion.

Thanks for your input everyone!
posted by cranberrymonger at 3:57 PM on May 14, 2013

I don't know what it is but I know what it is not, and it is definately NOT any kind of citrus.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 4:19 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Could it be a tea olive tree?
posted by MayNicholas at 6:17 PM on May 14, 2013

This picture of orange blossom buds looks a bit like it, but not quite.
posted by fancyoats at 8:05 PM on May 14, 2013

It looks like a Bay tree Laurelis Nobelis to me. It should have flowers and make berries and also has much more dense leaves than a ficus. Do the leaves smell like bay leaves when crushed?
posted by koolkat at 2:02 AM on May 15, 2013