American Sweetgum flowers - male and female

 The inflorescence of American Sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) are paired male and female flowers growing in close proximity to each other.  In the image above as well as in several of the images below the upright male flower "raceme" (red color) and the hanging female flower (cream color) can be clearly seen.

In the image below the new flowers can be seen beside several of the previous years spiky seed pods.

The star shaped leaves of the American Sweetgum are seen unfolding as well.

European alder - Spring blossom series

The European alder (also called Black alder, Common alder) has separate male and female inflorescence that bloom at the same time.  The long catkin type male inflorescence can be seen in the image above while the small red female inflorescence can be seen in more detail in the image below.

The female inflorescence goes on to develop into the small "cone" like seed pods that are characteristic of this tree species.

Silver wattle: Spring Blossom Series

Today´s tree for the Spring blossom series is the Silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) which has one brightest yellow colored flowers that you will find.  I took these pictures this morning while walking in a local park here in Madrid.  Only a few other trees are in bloom so for which makes this bright bloomer stand out all the more.  Enjoy the pics!

Cherry plum - Spring blossom series

 The third installment of the spring blossom series is of the Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera).   In a previous post on this tree species I confused this tree species with the Malus x purpurea in one of the images.  Hopefully I´ve got it right this time.  This tree is a favorite as an ornamental tree both for its colorful flowers and for its purple leaves.

Almond - Spring Blossoms series

 One of the first trees to blossom in the spring is the Almond tree, Prunus dulcis (Northern Hemisphere). The trees in full bloom often stand out backdrop of trees in their winter dormant stage with no color but the dull brown of their trunks and branches.  The brilliant white to pink flowers are often the first hint that Spring is about to begin.

Tulip tree flower

 Getting good images of the Tulip tree flower can be quite a trick due to the trees tall height and the fact that the flowers are usually so far off the ground that you can only get a glimpse of them.  A few days ago however I came across a fairly young tree that had flowers as low as five feet off the ground.  These images are from that tree.

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.

Olive flower inflorescence

The Olive tree´s flower structure (inflorescence) is an interesting example that illustrates the striking similarity between the branch structure and the inflorescence structure.  Just like the arrangement of the leaves on the branch the flower structure is a branched "raceme" panicle that is both opposite an decusatte.  There is one central peduncle (main supporting stalk of the inflorescenc) from which secondary peduncles branch out in opposite (two from each bract in opposing directions) and decusatte (each set of opposite secondary stalks are offset 90 degrees the the ones before and after on the main peduncle.  Furthermore some of these secondary stalks are also branched opposite and decusatte with the pedicels (stalk of the flower itself).  If this all sounds a bit confusing then just observe the images in this post and you will be able to see the similarity between the branch structure (bottom picture) and the flower structure.

Cercis siliquastrum var Alba

 The Cercis siliquastrum var alba is a cultivar of the European redbud tree species that has white flowers instead of the normal deep pink colored blossoms.  Other than the color of the inflorescence there is not much difference to set this variety apart from the Cercis siliquastrum.

 These images were taken in early April.

White mulberry spring flowers

 The male flower of the White mulberry (Morus alba) is catkin like spike inflorescence.  The flowers appear in mid spring from late March to mid-May (depending on your latitude).

 As can be seen from the image below the male flowers appear on the tree before the new leaves.

below - new leaves on the male tree (male and female are separate trees)

The images above and below are of the flowers of the female White mulberry tree.  The female flowers are shorter than their male counterparts.

Spring Flowers

European redbud

English Walnut

Japanese Cheesewood

Pomegranate

Lilac

Saucer Magnolia

Types of Inflorescence

An "inflorescence" is a cluster of flowers arranged on a branched stem structure.  There are a number of distinct types of inflorescence.  I´ve included ten basic ones here although there are additional ones that are variants of some of the ones shown in the image below.  The types of inflorescence that I have included in the graphic are

1.  Solitary
2. Spike
3. Spadix
4. Raceme
5. Cyme
6. Umbel
7. Compound umbel
8. Corymb
9. Panicle
10. Capitulum

I do not know for sure whether or not all of these diverse flower forms are found on trees.  Given the many species of trees in the world I think that it is likely.  some of these forms however may be much more common in smaller plants.

Sweet Chestnut tree in full bloom

I came across this beautiful Sweet chestnut tree in full flower in Portland.  This is the tree species that edible chestnuts come from and one good way to tell this tree apart from the non edible Horse Chestnut is by its flowers.