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Please help ID a tree

6 years ago

This tree is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, zone 10b. Not sure what kind of tree it is, but it's about 30 feet tall.








Here are some pictures of the leaves.




Here are some leaves with a cluster of fruits. It drops green fruits the size of a large marble.




Picture of leave and fruit with tape measure.




What kind of tree is this?

Comments (21)

  • 6 years ago

    Maybe post this on Name That Plant as well.

    Miami Cuse thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I see similarities to this

    https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cupaniopsis&qpvt=cupaniopsis&FORM=IGRE

    but S Florida has all kinds of tree species that aren't seen much, if at all elsewhere in the Lower 48.


    Miami Cuse thanked Embothrium
  • 6 years ago

    Def. not carrotwood (cupaniopsis). Leaves are different and carrotwood bark is smooth. There are many of those pest trees here.


    Carrotwood leaves:



    I'm thinking perhaps something in the fig family?

    What's weird is the bark - wondering might it be a fig that's taken over another tree?

    Miami Cuse thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 6 years ago

    The page I linked to above includes a picture of one with rough bark. However if the leaves are never paired then it wouldn't be the tree asked about for that reason.

    Miami Cuse thanked Embothrium
  • 6 years ago

    I would have said mahogany if not for the fruit.


    But carrotwood produces big bunches of clustered fruit that breaks open and is red and orange inside, so not that.

    Miami Cuse thanked writersblock (9b/10a)
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I don't have anything new to add here. Not carrotwood, pretty sure about that. The leaves look very much like some sort of ficus, but the bark, perplexing. There are many types of ficus here, so it may not be easy to identify if it is - or isn't!

    Miami Cuse thanked sonni1
  • 6 years ago

    It's not a tree being taken over by a fig. I do have a HUGE strangler fig about 30 feet away, shown in the picture below in the red circle.




  • 6 years ago

    A few more pictures of the tree and leaves.








  • 6 years ago

    " But carrotwood produces big bunches of clustered fruit that breaks open and is red and orange inside, so not that. "


    If I cut open the fruit, the inside is white.




  • 6 years ago

    I was going to say it looked like a nasberry tree.... but after looking at the last picture I would sat it is a macadamia tree..... that looks like a macadamia nut.... The bark also looks like a macadamia nut.... however my macadamia tree has different shape leaves.....


  • 6 years ago

    The fruit looks very much like a macadamia nut, but the leaves and bark and growth habit don't look anything like the macadamia tree I have.

    Might that be an immature, undeveloped fruit? Do they get any bigger?

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    The fruits are in clusters. The one I cut up dropped a minute before I picked it up. They do not get any bigger. They do turn brown in color after some time.

    Also, after a recent storm, I trimmed a few branches that broke. When I made the cut the color of the wood inside is somewhat of a cataloupe color. I have a few banyan/strangler figs and I know when I pruned those branches, the inside is very light in color and has a "milky" sap. This tree's wood is much harder/heavier too.

  • 6 years ago

    It looks like a ficus, and some do have rough bark, but with over 800 species, it may be impossible to identify. The only thing it's lacking is the aerial roots.

    Miami Cuse thanked dirtygardener
  • 6 years ago

    I don't think it's a macadamia nut tree. I looked up some pictures online the macadamia nut fruit has a sharper pointed end and this one is all round.

  • 6 years ago

    "The tree is a variety of the common name Beauty Leaf tree which is in the Calophyllum"


    I just looked this up online. Very interesting. It said the fruits are poisonous? I have a dozen or so that dropped into a fish pond(the canopy spread over it) and subsequently sank to the bottom of the pond. I wonder if it could release something poisonous to the Koi, I hope I don't have to vac the pond.

  • 6 years ago

    I'm not sure about how poisonous it is to the Koi, but I hope their okay. In Fort Lauderdale

    it's common as a street tree, up here near Venice Florida it is very rare. I think of it as a similar

    look to a carrotwood with smoother leaves and reddish new growth. Good luck

    Miami Cuse thanked fl west coast zone 10a
  • 6 years ago

    And def. NOT the macadamia I'm familiar with. Macadamia fruits have a distinct pointed end and split open when mature. I finished harvesting the nuts from mine over a month ago.

    Macadamia fruits:

    Miami Cuse thanked carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Calophyllum is a genus of plants of course and not an entire plant family. Macadamia integrifolia does actually produce a percentage of leaves of similar shape to the tree asked about but as has already been shown here differs in other ways.

    "Calophyllum Tree":

    https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=calophyllum+tree&qpvt=calophyllum+tree&FORM=IGRE

    Miami Cuse thanked Embothrium
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I have another beauty leaf tree in another corner, it has a rotted section of bark at the base. I poked at it and a lump fell off. Is this a serious problem?



  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Now that we have identified this as a Beauty Leaf Tree (Calophyllum), I have a followup question.

    I have one of these trees outside my front gate. But beyond the back line of my property, between the edge of pavement and my wood fence, I have this tree all over. This is an area about 40' long and 18' wide, and it's completely crowded with this tree.



    I did some counting today, and within this 40'x18' area, I have three large ones where the trunks are over 18" in diameter. I have about fifteen with trunks between 8" and 10", and I have numerous (several dozens) between 4"-8". Altogether I think I have over forty beauty leaf trees in various sizes growing in this small area. It's so thick and dense I cannot get inside this cluster of trees.




    It drops A LOT of fruits/seeds around this time of the year and previously owners just let them go crazy. I am trying to decide if I should cut back the small trees and over time get back to just the three large mature ones, or leave it alone and let it be?

    Thoughts?

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