When can I expect flowers on my clusia shrub?

[Walt]

3-4 years ago I bought a small (3 gallon size) Clusia plant. After it got bigger I planted it. To my surprise it went through the cold winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11 with only minor leaf damage. This past winter it handled fine.

I know about a year or so ago I posted a photo of my clusia as I didn't know the species, although I knew it wasn't Clusia rosea. I think somebody said it might be Clusia lanceolata, but I can't recall now, and that it was more cold hardy than Clusia rosea (which I found that out for myself to be true, as the cold killed my C. rosea).

In any event, I'm wondering when I can expect to get some flowers on my shrub. How large does my clusia have to be before I can expect some flowers? My shurb, at the highest point on a couple of branches, is around 8 feet or slightly more.

Below is two photos of my shrub.

[Eric in Orlando]

Walt, I have been waiting for our Clusia rosea to flower too. We hve several out, the biggest about 8ft tall, but no flowers yet.

Interestingly, we had C. rosea and C. major survive the winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11 with no damge or some slight leaf burn. Clusia guttifera, C. lanceolata and C. orthoneura were all killed.

[Walt]

3-4 years ago I bought a small (3 gallon size) Clusia plant. After it got bigger I planted it. To my surprise it went through the cold winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11 with only minor leaf damage. This past winter it handled fine.

I know about a year or so ago I posted a photo of my clusia as I didn't know the species, although I knew it wasn't Clusia rosea. I think somebody said it might be Clusia lanceolata, but I can't recall now, and that it was more cold hardy than Clusia rosea (which I found that out for myself to be true, as the cold killed my C. rosea).

In any event, I'm wondering when I can expect to get some flowers on my shrub. How large does my clusia have to be before I can expect some flowers? My shurb, at the highest point on a couple of branches, is around 8 feet or slightly more.

Below is two photos of my shrub.

Eric, Judging from my photos, what species of Clusia do you think my shrub is? The local nursery that sold it to me as a small plant only said it was Clusia. Once it started getting bigger I noticed the leaves weren't as big as C. rosea, which I had until it was killed by cold, yet this one was virtually unscathed. This one, though, is planted in a slightly warmer and less exposed area, but still.

[virtualpalm]

Walt, you have Clusia guttifera (which is a FL native), which was actually much more cold tolerant for us here in Florida than C. rosea (which is also a FL native) or C. orthoneura a couple years ago. We have "shrubs" approaching 12 feet tall at the nursery that have still not flowered.

Jody

[Walt]

Walt, you have Clusia guttifera (which is a FL native), which was actually much more cold tolerant for us here in Florida than C. rosea (which is also a FL native) or C. orthoneura a couple years ago. We have "shrubs" approaching 12 feet tall at the nursery that have still not flowered.

Jody

Jody. Thanks for your reply. I'm delighted to finally know what species my Clusia is. I was surprised there was no mention of it in my copy of Riffle's, The Tropical Look, as that was the first I.D. source reference I checked.

I bought my clusia when it was just no more than a 3 gallon size from a small nursery here in Highlands County. The owner was a Puerto Rican lady whose daughter has a small nursery down in Miami, and she (the nursery owner up here) was bringing up stock to Highlands County; this lady's nursery is the only one I've ever seen up here that carries Clusia guttifera.

I did a Google search on Clusia guttifera (upon your post response) and see just about every wholesale nusery in south Florida handles it, that it is basically pest resistant, drought tolerant, good for full sun and some shade, etc. and that it is a zone 10 plant (rosea being zone 10B). Now I know why my plant fared so well during the last two winters, as mine is planted on a south exposure under high slash pine and a solid wall of wax mrytle.

It's somewhat of a mystery to me that your shrubs are approaching 12 feet and haven't flowered; hence, I surely won't be expecting any flowers anytime soon on my plant. If/when mine blooms I will post pics of them.

Now I think I will try to root some cuttings and make new plants.