Princess Earring Tree

[metalfan]

Does anyone grow Dichrostachys cinerea, Princess Earring Tree? I have a sizable plant, about 4 feet tall now. I can't remember when it last bloomed or what its bloom season is. Hoping I get some blooms this season

Edited August 23, 2018 by metalfan
autocorrect messed it up

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, metalfan said:

Does anyone grow Dichrostachys mineral, Princess Earring Tree? I have a sizable plant, about 4 feet tall now. I can't remember when it last bloomed or what its bloom season is. Hoping I get some blooms this season

Yep.. have had one in a container since 2015. Has done well in dappled shade here in AZ. Flowers best in the spring, and anticipating it's annual late summer /early fall re-bloom within the next few weeks..  Nice little tree.  There are additional, larger specimens at Desert Botanical, and at a demo Garden located on the west side of the Valley. That specimen is always full of seed. Strangely, mine only sets seed once a year, if at all.. 

Couple flower pictures:

[metalfan]

Then there is hope I can still get a bloom flush this season! I had mine set seed several years ago and I grew out a couple small plants and traded them away. Thanks for the post!! Very helpful!

[metalfan]

And I don;t know why autocorrect changed  CINEREA to MINERAL. TWICE

[Johnk9]

I have 2 huge Dichrostachys cinerea, in the ground. They are blooming now.John

Edited August 24, 2018 by Johnk9
pict

[Johnk9]

Old photo

Edited August 24, 2018 by Johnk9

[metalfan]

John, I hate you (not really LOL)

 

[bubba]

Really cool name! Princess Earring Tree! I hope metalfan is successful in growing that beautiful pink and yellow bloom!

[metalfan]

This is the last known blooming of my Princess Earring. 2009.

[jimmyt]

That is an unusual looking, and beautiful flower on that tree....  Almost like a bottlebrush......

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I have a Love/Hate relationship with this shrub or small tree.  Easy to grow but has a relatively short lifespan and sets millions of seeds and I think they all sprout at about 150% germination rate.  And it has thorns.  Lots of thorns.

 

Cool flower though and that is why I got it in the first place.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

I have a Love/Hate relationship with this shrub or small tree.  Easy to grow but has a relatively short lifespan and sets millions of seeds and I think they all sprout at about 150% germination rate.  And it has thorns.  Lots of thorns.

 

Cool flower though and that is why I got it in the first place.

Interesting observations regarding lifespan Jerry, have noticed my own specimen showing some die back over that past year. Could be age, though other factors could be at play ( being occasionally attacked by a Sharpshooter sp. that spreads certain plant diseases such as Oleander Scorch, not getting enough water at times, etc) but have seen other specimens around town that have been planted for at least 6 years ( since i first observed them here) 

My own plant also lacks thorns..or has few of them. The two others i visit regularly also aren't what i'd consider thorny, say compared to trees like certain Mesquite or Acacia smalli / farnesiana. 

As far as seed, while mine is somewhat shy at producing it, i've yet to see more than the occasional, suspected seedling below a specimen in Glendale that is loaded w/seed year-round. See a few popping up directly below the specimen at Desert Botanical but wouldn't consider that much of an issue.. White lead Tree (Leucanea leucocephala) seeds everywhere.. and easily pops up by the 100's after a good Monsoon soaking. Outside of any favorable spots which receive irrigation, id say 90%+ that do germinate rarely survive beyond the end of Monsoon season though. Those that do survive though are tough to get rid of once they are rooted in. 

I'd imagine it is our overall lack of consistent rainfall that limits seed recruitment off local Princess Earring specimens.  Still, not sure i'd recommend planting it near a more permanent source of water. That might be the difference between it being tame /easily managed, and potentially spreading along local river bottoms like Salt Cedar (Tamarisk)

Regardless, agree that it was the interesting flowers that initially drew my interest. 

[paquicuba]

Like we say in Cuba "No to do lo que brilla es oro" or in English "not all that glitters is gold". Do yourself a favor and do this country a favor and don't plant this tree. It's an extremely highly aggressive invasive weed that tolerates salt, flooding, extreme drought (seriously, this plant can survive in a desert,) fire, lightning, atomic bombs and whatever you through at it. Be responsible and do your research about this plant, mainly on the impact it has had on Cuba's agriculture ( occupying about 4,900,000 acres (20,000 km²) of agricultural land )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichrostachys_cinerea

" Princess Earring Tree " —what a deceiving name. Please call it by its ugly African name " Marabú "

 

Got to the link below. I'm not kidding when I said that it's a fire resistant tree —I have seen them completely burned down to the roots and growing back in few days like nothing happened. 

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/18119

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by paquicuba

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Paquicuba, other than that, you like though, right?

[paquicuba]

On 9/12/2018, 8:37:27, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

Paquicuba, other than that, you like though, right?

Sorry, I don't like it at all. Maybe because I saw so many of them when I was growing up in Cuba. I'm from Camagüey, a province located in the center of the island that unfortunately has the highest infestation of Marabú, mainly because it's mostly a flat region, full of abandoned sugar cane fields that this shrub has colonized. As previously mentioned by another forum member, this shrubs are full of thorns and ugly seed pods. The flowers are OK, but again, they're barely noticeable or are not enough on the plants to beautify the landscapes that they have ruined.