Black locust - Robinia pseudoacacia

The Black locust tree (species name: Robinia pseudoacacia) is native to the southeastern United States but is widely planted in other regions as an urban ornamental tree.  It is also grown as a honey plant in some countries.

The flower of the Black locust tree is a loose hanging "raceme" inflorescence.  The individual flowers have a "papilionaceous" (butterfly like) shape (see image below).  In Spain these flowers are sometimes called "pan y quesito" (bread and cheese) in reference to the fact that the flowers are edible.  To give them a try all you have to do is pluck the petals from the flower base and nibble on the soft, sweet base of the petals.  Some have even made a syrup from this sweet nectar.

The leaf arrangement of the Black locust tree is parallel, compound and odd-pinnate with the individual leaves having an "ovate" to slightly "obcordate" (heart) shape.

The Black locust is also a thorn tree although from my observations the twin thorns grow mainly on the "epicormic shoots".  These are the shoots that grow from the base or trunk of the tree from an epicormic bud below the surface of the bark.  The normal branches do not seem to have many thorns at all.

Prickly Pear or Barbary Fig - a tree like cactus

 The Prickly Pear or Barbary Fig is a tree like cactus that is widely grown for its edible "tuna" fruits in semi-arid regions around the world.  The images in this post come from central Spain in the Extremadura region.

 The tasty yet somewhat seedy fruits of this tree-cactus are a bit of a challenge to pick since both the leaves and fruits are covered with both pointy, thorny spikes and small, fine prickly "hairs".  If you don´t what to get a hand full of these bothersome barbs you had better come prepared.  A thick set of gloves with wrist protectors is one way to go about picking them.  Then comes the challenge of riding the fruit of their thorns and hairs.  One way to go about it is to place several dozen in a gunny sack, get them wet and then agitate the sack for 5-10 minutes.  This can be done by hanging the sack from a branch or bean and then rocking the sack back and forth with your hand.  In this way the fruits end of cleaning each others prickles off.

 To eat the fruit one has to first peel back the skin.  One way that I like to do this is to slice off both ends, make a cut down one side and then peel the rest off starting from the cut and removing the rest of the peel in one piece leaving the tasty interior ready to be eaten as is.

Silk Floss - Ceiba Speciosa

The Silk Floss tree (Ceiba speciosa or Chorisia speciosa) is very unique tree species from the subtropical regions of South America. The flowers of this tree range in color from creamy white to dark pink and white. It is sometimes confused with the "White Silk Floss tree".
It has taken me a full year of watching this tree species as it passed through the seasons to get this series of pictures. Yesterday I was finally able to get some good pictures of the puffy "silk" balls and the seeds. The pods in the picture above are about 5-6 inches long and are packed with a bunch of silky cotton-ball like puffs that each contain a seed. The way that this tree spreads its seeds is by the seed pod bursting open and letting the wind carry away the little silky puffs.
In the image above you can see one of the seed pods just after it has burst open and before any of the cotton-like wads have blown away. In the image below you can see another wad of silky puffs that is slowly letting the seeds drift away one at a time. You can see one black seed in this image.
The next image is of one of the individual seeds still attached to a small puff of the silky fibers that I picked up off the ground under the tree. There were several hundred of these in the grass under the tree. I hard a hard time getting a picture of this seed as there was a bit of a breeze which kept floating the little silky puff right out of my hand as it was a small down feather. They look like little cotton balls but they are a lot lighter. The seed itself is about 3 mm in diameter.
Another interesting feature of this tree are its thorns. To give an idea of their size and shape I took a picture with a Euro coin (slightly larger than a quarter). These are fairly representative of the thorn size although I have seen some that are at least twice this size.

Snowflake Aralia - Trevesia palmata

I came across this rare tree in the "Paseo del Parque" gardens in downtown Malaga. It took me quite a while to identify this tree as there are very images of it on the internet.
I went back to this tree several times to get pictures of its flowers at different stages of development. The flowers hang on the underside of this small trees rather large leaves (about 40cm in diameter). The flowers form balls of small yellow and white blossoms. The ball shape is about 10cm in diameter.
The Trevesia palmata is native to South China and grows in tropical or sub-tropical climates. The trees that I found were only about 3 meters tall.
The leaves have long stems (about 75cm long) and grow of the main truck which is covered with small thorns that slowly wear off.

The image below is of the flowers and leaves after they have dried out but are still hanging on the underside of the tree.

external links...

http://www.tenthousandtrees.com/Araliaceae/Tree%20-%20Trevesia%20palmata.html

White Silk Floss - Chorisia Insignis

This is a close relative of the Silk Floss tree (C. Speciosa). Like its cousin this tree has an ornate flower and very pronounced thorns that cover its trunk and branches. The tree below is a large Chorisia Insignis that is located close to the "Plaza de la Marina" in Malaga, Spain. At the base this tree is more than one meter in diameter.

Ceiba Pubiflora 2

The sheer size of this tree makes it hard to photograph in one frame. Also, the fact that is is surrounded by other trees and palms make it a bit tricky. These are my best pictures of the whole tree. If there is interest I can post a higher resolution image.
I´ve also posted some different images of this tree at www.tree-species.com

Ceiba Pubiflora

I have been unable to find a common name for this tree in English. In Spanish it is called the "Palo Borracho Rosado" which means something like "Drunk Pink Pole". The tree is native to Paraguay and Brazil. I took these pictures in Malaga, Spain quite near to the entrance of the port in a garden that the locals call "Paseo del Parque" (a sign in the park reads "Jardines de Muñoz de Grain"). At any rate this park has a collection of trees and plants that rivals many botanical gardens.A sign at the base of this tree last year indicated that it was Chorisia Speciosa but it has recently been replaced with a new sign that gives the species as Ceiba Pubiflora. The two trees have a lot in common but are not identical. For one the thorns (spikes) on the C. Pubiflora are a lot smaller than those of the Chorisia Speciosa or Chorisia Insignis. From a distance the flowers look very similar also but up close the differences can be easily seen.

White Silk Floss

This picture of the Chorisia Insignis flower was taken in the University of Malaga Botanical Garden. A related tree, Chorisia Speciosa has been extensively planted as an ornamental tree in Southern Spain. The Insignis species is much less frequent however.

One of the unique features of this tree is the thorns that cover the trunk and branches. They are very sharp and can grow up to two inches long. On some trees they cover almost every square inch of trunk and branches while on others the thorns are spread out.

This White Silk Floss tree is located in Malaga, Spain not far from the entrance to the port. The trunk of this tree is about 5-6 feet in diameter.

More interesting trees...
Illawara Flame tree
Ceiba pubiflora
Blue Jacaranda
Pecan tree