Can you identify this plant?
June 24, 2015 11:32 AM Subscribe
Asking for a friend who found these in his Los Angeles backyard:
The nuts start out green like olives, then turn. Inside is a hard shell. If you crack that open there is a strong smell my friend described as a cross between almond, macadamia and hazelnut, mostly almond.
His dog chewed up the nuts so he's wondering if they're toxic at all.
Response by poster: Yeah, the fruit definitely look similar. Not entirely sure about the leaves. Here's a few more leaf pics. In the original pic it looks heart shaped but I think it's because it's bent. In these pictures they look less heart shaped but still not quite like what I find when I search Google for cherry laurel leaf pics. Those seem to be less wide then the ones in my friend's pics:
posted by Hairy Lobster at 11:56 AM on June 24, 2015
posted by Hairy Lobster at 11:56 AM on June 24, 2015
I think hollyleaf cherry, Prunus ilicifolia.
posted by purpleclover at 12:19 PM on June 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by purpleclover at 12:19 PM on June 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: It's difficult to tell without a scale next to the drupe. Those leaves and fruit sure do look like some kind of cherry like fruit; if the hollyleaf cherry doesn't suit you, try chokecherries. Chokecherries can be toxic to rumens (cows, horses, etc.) but don't know about dogs. A way to tell the difference is that chokecherry leaves do not have the soft downy hairs under their leaves that other cherries do. Some flowering cherry trees - the kind that usually produce just the flowers, not the fruit - do occasionally produce fruit that's really shriveled.
A second guess would be a wild plum of some variety, as wild plums can look a lot like olives when they first appear. Or possibly a cherry-plum hybrid. (IMHO plums are super temperamental when it comes to temperature and water, so I've seen plum fruit from the same tree look pretty different from one year to the next - being in LA with the drought and now El Nino it's possible the plums are a little off.)
Two other types that have similar leaves are juneberries and serviceberries. But the fruit look different.
One last thought - it could be a type of buckthorn. I haven't seen a lot of it and there's a lot of varieties, so (unless someone chimes in with a definite nope), you might spend some time with a buckthorn ID guide to be sure. Certain types of buckthorn are considered invasive in some places (don't know about CA), and buckthorn is poisonous to dogs.
If you don't get any satisfactory answers, a drupe ID guide for California could provide an answer.
posted by barchan at 1:32 PM on June 24, 2015
A second guess would be a wild plum of some variety, as wild plums can look a lot like olives when they first appear. Or possibly a cherry-plum hybrid. (IMHO plums are super temperamental when it comes to temperature and water, so I've seen plum fruit from the same tree look pretty different from one year to the next - being in LA with the drought and now El Nino it's possible the plums are a little off.)
Two other types that have similar leaves are juneberries and serviceberries. But the fruit look different.
One last thought - it could be a type of buckthorn. I haven't seen a lot of it and there's a lot of varieties, so (unless someone chimes in with a definite nope), you might spend some time with a buckthorn ID guide to be sure. Certain types of buckthorn are considered invasive in some places (don't know about CA), and buckthorn is poisonous to dogs.
If you don't get any satisfactory answers, a drupe ID guide for California could provide an answer.
posted by barchan at 1:32 PM on June 24, 2015
Response by poster: Ooh, I think you may have it... the chokecherry leaves look very close to the leaves in my friend's pics.
I'll have him check whether there is downy fuzz under the leaves or not.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 1:44 PM on June 24, 2015
I'll have him check whether there is downy fuzz under the leaves or not.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 1:44 PM on June 24, 2015
Purpleclover has it - Prunus ilicifolia.
Also known as Catalina cherry. I can't vouch for the seeds, but the flesh of the fruit is edible, though there isn't much. Imagine a bing cherry that's about 85% seed.
I had one just yesterday morning. Still not quite ripe.
posted by univac at 7:43 PM on June 24, 2015
Also known as Catalina cherry. I can't vouch for the seeds, but the flesh of the fruit is edible, though there isn't much. Imagine a bing cherry that's about 85% seed.
I had one just yesterday morning. Still not quite ripe.
posted by univac at 7:43 PM on June 24, 2015
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posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:38 AM on June 24, 2015