Do you know this tree? Maybe called a Chinaberry?

[Mothergoat]

When I was a little girl, my grandma's house in the east SF bay area, California, had a lot of trees growing around the yard. They had multiple trunks sort of like a sumac. They had dark green, shiny, pinnately compound leaves with lots of little pointy, serrated leaflets. One whole compound leaf could be 10 inches long or more, like the size of an english walnut compound leaf...But it looked like a whole bunch of little leaves to most people. The bark was smooth and grayish, becoming rougher as the trees got older. The thing I really remember was the flowers and the fruits. The trees bloomed in the spring with these beautiful little clusters of tiny lavendar purple flowers, like miniature purple daffodils about 3/8 inch long. We called them Chinaberry trees because the fruit were these 1/2 inch diameter round buff yellow seeds that dried hard. We threw them at each other. (We were charming children.)

I've never seen them growing anyplace else. Does anyone know anything about this tree?
Linda

Never mind -- here it is. http://www.floridata.com/ref/M/meli_aze.cfm

Apparently it is a really invasive problem tree in the southern US. I guess I'll forget about trying to grow one here. The last thing I need is soemthing else that is toxic to goats on the place!

 

[digitS']

Gee Linda, you could be part of that great movement of introducing this invasive species to Oregon where it hasn't taken root just yet!
Nah, I don't know anything about it since it hasn't gotten up here. It's a pretty thing growing around south.
I once recommended to a Utah gardener that he could plant the lovely Russian olive on his property. Turns out the Russian olive is considered invasive down there. row Utah is seriously involved in trying to get rid of it!!

When I first started reading your post, I thought you might be talking about the beautiful Rose Acacia, sometimes known as the prickly locust. (I take the neutral ground of calling it a pink Robinia. It's native but, wow, it can cause problems. There was a real beauty growing outside my kitchen window until it just couldn't take the shade of the larger trees. So pretty!

Steve
:tools

 

[sundance]

My grandmother had china berry trees all around her house in Fla. and we also had great china berry fights, but in a strong wind the branches are real easy to break, and Grandmother always said the berrys were poison.So we just had fights with them but man did those dry berries hurt.

 

[Mothergoat]

Yeah, those little yellow balls did hurt, didn't they?

What a shame, so many lovely plants that misbehave in the wrong location. Scotch broom is really pretty when it's in bloom, but it's another nasty toxic and invasive species here. I've eliminated them from our place, but the pasture across the road is full of it.

We also had a locust tree on our place when I was a kid - long white flower sprays, smelled nice. It was a Robinia too, but I think people called it Black Locust. It had REALLY nasty thorns,and if you ran barefoot much like we did, you grew to hate this tree because twigs and branches with those thorns were always dropping on the ground. It also sprouted indiscriminately from seed.

Maybe I'll settle for a nice pink flowering dogwood, or a mountain ash.

 

[digitS']

So, you are looking for a small ornamental tree tree for your yard, Linda??

I better not make many suggestions other than to say the thornless honeylocust may work for you . Some are not just just thornless but fruitless.

It is fairly popular around here but doesn't always do well. I understand that in its native environment in the eastern US, the honeylocust grows where there's a fair amount of moisture. I think here it's been confused with that other tree and it just isn't real closely related to the black locust .

Steve

This link might help.

 

[Rosalind]

in its native environment in the eastern US, the honeylocust grows where there's a fair amount of moisture. I think here it's been confused with that other tree and it just isn't real closely related to the black locust

It mostly grows alongside highways where there isn't much drainage. You can tell the difference when you see them side-by-side: a black locust is a big tall thing that has a trunk/growth habit like a tall elm, and a honey locust is shorter, shrubbier.

Some people here consider them a nuisance. You find out the hard way if you ever have to prune or cut one down, several sawblades later. I've got to say, they make AWESOME fenceposts, and if I had infinite time I would plant a hedge of them and trim them to be living fenceposts. If I was timber-framing a house, I would use honey locust, even though you have to pay a small fortune to get it milled and you have to use masonry screws to attach anything to it. It is much sturdier and harder than oak. No kidding. Some lumber mills won't touch the stuff, or require you to buy them a new blade to mill it.

They smell lovely, they are very pretty in spring, and if you keep bees or just want to attract pollinators to your garden, they will do that beautifully.

 

[Mothergoat]

Thank you to you both! I think I'll try the honey locust. Non-rotting living fenceposts ... Now there's something attractive to a goatherder. I take it they grow pretty quickly, too?
Linda

 

[islandmanmitch]

Hey Linda, I live on the Emerald Coast of Florida (The Redneck Riviera) and know the Chinaberry tree well. The berries made excellent slingshot ammo for our childhood slingshot wars. The trees are not as common here as they were when I was a kid and we never considered them "invasive". I have not seen them growing in the wild only around houses, farms and old home places. I'm not saying they are not invasive and would not recommend planting any non-native tree without checking with your state agency before planting them. We have a heck of a problem with the popcorn trees and it is growing worse everyday. They grow everywhere including the wild.