Clusia rosea questions

[Walt]

Less than three years ago I bought a one-gallon sized plant from a local nursery. The owner said it was a Clusia rosea.

Last year I bought a five-gallon Clusia rosea from Riverland Nursery in East Ft. Myers.

The one-gallon plant, naturally, had smaller leaves on it. However, now the one-gallon plant has outgrown the five gallon plant. I planted out the five gallon plant last summer. I built a small crude tent around it (and a Ti plant) last winter and used an old electric skillet to heat the flannel sheet and PVC tarp tent.

My other clusia I planted last summer. It is planted far away from the house and I could only protect it by covering it with several layers of flannel sheets.

Well, the tented clusia was half killed and the part of the plant that wasn't killed was 50% defoliated. But the other clusia that was only covered suffered no defoliation at all, and only some slight leaf damage where some of the sheets touched. But as of today it's almost 100% normal again.

My questions are as follows:

1. Do you think the clusia in the first photo below might be a different species than that of the one in the second photo (take this past winter)? The clusia in the first photo has slightly smaller leaves.

2. I'm very impressed with the cold hardiness of the clusia in the first photo. It had to see temperatures at least in the high 20s (as my open yard temperatures dropped into the low 20s on three nights) although it was never directly exposed to the air, since it was covered. Also, it has some overhead tree canopy arching out over it. I strategically planted it on the south side (full sun side) of the arching tree.

I would like to propagate this plant. Can clusia be propagated relatively easy with cuttings? And if so, what is the best type of cuttings to use, i.e., green wood, semi-hard wood, hard wood, etc.?

Above: This plant started out as a one gallon size less than three years ago. This is the one that was only covered with flannel sheets, no supplemental heat.

Above: This clusia had three stems, but one was totally killed and another half killed back. The third stem nearest the Ti plant was okay, as the skillet was closer to it. You can see the green metal stakes I used to support the flannel sheet and PVC tarp, to form a crude tent. Also, I wrapped and heated with string lights the small adonidia palm on the right, othewise it would have been toast and killed, I believe.

[AggiePalms]

Walt - I also think Clusia is a really neat looking plant, and an interesting part of S. Florida's flora. I am not an expert, but there are several species, with both C. rosea and C. major going by the names of Autograph Tree, Balsam Apple and Pitch Apple (I think there are other close relatives to the Pitch Apple as well). I have seen multiple "species" in cultivation and in the wild, and they look somewhat different. I can't recall exactly which was which, but I recall there was a difference in leaf size/shape and overall morphology/density of the canopy. I'm sure some of the S. Florida people can correct me on those.

I grow mine in a 15 gallon pot, it comes in during cold weather, but a couple of years ago I let it stay out too long, unprotected, in upper 20's for one to two nights. Quite a bit of defoliation, and it took till late Spring for new growth to appear. My leaves are more like those in your second photo. Fortunately it did recover; now mine just looks ratty because of a freak hailstorm last month that cracked most leaves.

I have grown plants from cuttings without much difficulty. I just wrapped the stems in wet Sphagnum covered in foil, and soon roots sprouted. I have always just used stems that have broken off, so I don't know whether stem woodiness would impact success or not. I would definitely go for it. I think these should be grown much more widely, so I have given away several rooted cuttings at SE Palm Society meetings.

[Walt]

Walt - I also think Clusia is a really neat looking plant, and an interesting part of S. Florida's flora. I am not an expert, but there are several species, with both C. rosea and C. major going by the names of Autograph Tree, Balsam Apple and Pitch Apple (I think there are other close relatives to the Pitch Apple as well). I have seen multiple "species" in cultivation and in the wild, and they look somewhat different. I can't recall exactly which was which, but I recall there was a difference in leaf size/shape and overall morphology/density of the canopy. I'm sure some of the S. Florida people can correct me on those.

I grow mine in a 15 gallon pot, it comes in during cold weather, but a couple of years ago I let it stay out too long, unprotected, in upper 20's for one to two nights. Quite a bit of defoliation, and it took till late Spring for new growth to appear. My leaves are more like those in your second photo. Fortunately it did recover; now mine just looks ratty because of a freak hailstorm last month that cracked most leaves.

I have grown plants from cuttings without much difficulty. I just wrapped the stems in wet Sphagnum covered in foil, and soon roots sprouted. I have always just used stems that have broken off, so I don't know whether stem woodiness would impact success or not. I would definitely go for it. I think these should be grown much more widely, so I have given away several rooted cuttings at SE Palm Society meetings.

David: The only reason I somewhat suspected the two plants might be a different species is due to the one withstanding the cold so much better. and that the leaves seemed just a little smaller. Or, it just might be some natural variance. It almost can't be anything else as the Clusia that had die back was kept far more protected than the other one with no die back.

In any event, I'm going to root some cuttings of the more cold hardy Clusia, as I would like to have many more of these plants here and there about my garden. I sure would like to see one of my plants put out a bloom, too. But, bloom or no bloom, I like the plant for it's foliage. It's good to know you had good luck in rooting cuttings. I generally try to root far more cuttings than I need, knowing that many will not take. Actually, all I would want is just a few more plants, so that shouldn't be a problem.

[Cindy Adair]

Even I got 100% success rooting Clusia lanceolata and C. rosea and I usually stick to seeds. In Puerto Rico, Clusia rosea can end up strangling its host tree, but I still like it. It's fun to have guests inscribe their initials in a leaf which will form an easily visible scar. Since each leaf lives several years, we can send photos of "their leaf" as a reminder of their visit. We did so last week when our daughters in college couldn't join us, but the photos are on my husband's cell rather than our computer. The photo is of a variegated form that I'm also very fond of. When it gets larger I'll try to propagate it as some friends on the island would like it too. Enjoy your clusias!

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Pic #1 looks like C. guttifera and pic #2 looks like C. rosea. There is a guttifera "nana" with very tiny leaves, for a Clusea that is. Leaves are only about 1.5 inches. There is also a rosea nana but I suspect that it is really guttifera. My experience has been like yours that rosea seems more tender. There are some Clusias that grow in the highlands of Costa Rica, and elsewhere I presume, that should be pretty cold hearty but I don't think they are in cultivation.

C. lanceolata is a great shrub and is plentiful to trial in colder places.

[Walt]

Pic #1 looks like C. guttifera and pic #2 looks like C. rosea. There is a guttifera "nana" with very tiny leaves, for a Clusea that is. Leaves are only about 1.5 inches. There is also a rosea nana but I suspect that it is really guttifera. My experience has been like yours that rosea seems more tender. There are some Clusias that grow in the highlands of Costa Rica, and elsewhere I presume, that should be pretty cold hearty but I don't think they are in cultivation.

C. lanceolata is a great shrub and is plentiful to trial in colder places.

Jerry: Well, I believe you are most correct, and that my plant in question is in fact not a C. rosea, but probably a C.guttifera.

I recall now that when I bought it it was only marked "Clusia," and had no species name. I just assumed it was C. rosea because that's the only species of Clusia I was familar with.

But after this winter, seeing how this plant handled the cold so much better than my C. rosea, I was confounded. I just didn't understand it. Yes, I covered this plant, but it still saw some mighty cold temperatures last December. I expected total defoliation of this plant at the very least. I was pleasantly surprised to pull off the multiple layers of flannel sheets and find this plant near 100% healthy.

As a result of this past winter's experience with this plant, I definitely want more of them, so I will try to root some cuttings tomorrow.

[JasonD]

SF Botanical Garden has a high-altitude species of Clusia from Central America. I can't recall if it's Clusia guatemalensis something else.

[Dave-Vero]

I know of a couple of healthy Clusia rosea on the barrier island in Vero Beach. I need to double-check tomorrow, but I think Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft Pierce has a pretty big one. They were warm enough this winter that Dypsis lutescens suffered very little damage and well-shaded Satakentia suffered no damage at all (but coconuts croaked).