Shrub/Tree identification

Amoeba · #1 (**permalink**) 05-05-2009, 02:40 PM

I have small samples here, a single leaf and a few small flowers. Unfortunately I don't have my camera as it's being borrowed by a friend.

The plant itself appeared like a small, bushy tree. It actually looked like elder, but had a few differences that set it apart. The flowers were clustered in large numbers crown shapes but were more tightly packed than those of elder, and the petals are a bit more curled (though I don't know if that's just due to the stage of their development, a few stragglers hadn't opened yet). The flowers are about 1cm in diameter each. They smell sweet, fruity and a bit like honey. They are a creamy white, with about 5 petals on each flower head.

The leaves were arranged like those of elder, and about the same size with the jagged edge. However, some leaves were a bit irregularly shaped, with the jagged bits sometimes separating near the bottom of the leaf stem so it appears the leaf stem has smaller leaves in it. This wasn't true of all of the leaves though, some looked regular. All of the leaves also had this strange cottony velvety covering on the back. The top of the leaf does have hairs but they're hardly noticeable, the top seems to be shiny.

Anyone know what it is? If it's too difficult to tell with a description, I might be able to get my camera back tonight some time.

KeenTeen17 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-05-2009, 02:45 PM

Maybe a Rowan?

Amoeba · #3 (**permalink**) 05-05-2009, 02:53 PM

Thanks for the suggestion but doubtful, the leaf arrangement is a bit off to be a rowan. The leaves on this weren't arranged in that ladder formation characteristic of rowans and they were also bigger and darker.

Also I've been looking at rowans a lot lately and it just didn't look like it at all. There were too many flowers to a crown.