# Please Help I.D. This Tree / Shrub ?



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

Folks,
I will give you all the information on this specimen as I can. I live in the southeastern portion of North Carolina. This "tree" is about thirty feet tall and there are many others around it of various sizes. I could not take a picture of it because it is located on my work location at the prison where I work. Taking pictures can / will get me fired!
Anyway, I already stated the sizes of this specimen. The leaves are kind of football shaped and are not very large. The flowers, which seem to number in the thousands, are very tiny and white. Each flower has only four petals. It is very fragrant. The limbs hang somewhat gracefully from the specimen. I did sneak a small sample from the specimen in order to try to post a pic on our forum so that maybe I can get an accurate description of it ! Here goes nothing..............Thanks to all who can help!


----------



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Perhaps Dogwood (_Cornus_ spp.), Images of Dogwood Trees, in bloom.


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

No. Not dogwood. I cannot seem to get these pictures to my post!


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/...er or Tree of 2011/100_1363.jpg?t=1304131894


Let me see if this will work!


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

The flowers remind me of Locust, but the leaves don't look right in the picture. Are there ~13 leaves on each branch opposed to each other? I know I have seen this plant before, but just can't think what it is right now.


----------



## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

You're seeing Ligustrum. We have a hedgerow of this at my house and the honeybees love it. It usually blooms here in early June.


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

Let me look it up real quick !


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

My second guess was going to be Linden. The leaves don't look right for privet.


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

Sure enough! I am not certin of the exact "genious" of the plant but over all, it is exactly as you stated! Now, can I root these things from cuttings or does anyone know? By the way, thank you, thank you, and thank you!


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

It's not Linden. The leaves and flowers are not the same. However, I have to narrow down the correct species as these flowers are much smaller than those in the pics that I have been seeing. Hokie Bee Daddy, are these hard to grow?


----------



## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

Misslechunker,

You're welcome. My grandparents had a Ligustrum shrub at their house when I was a punk kid and every year when it blooms the fragrance reminds me of those days. Good luck.


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

Thank you once again! I bet you that there was literally hundreds of honey bee's on these tree's this evening! By the way, wouldn't it be referred to as a tree since they grow so tall?


----------



## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

They aren't hard to grow at all. They grow quick and we trim ours back every three or four years. I don't know how easy they are to root though. We got ours from a nursery about 15 years ago. We have a hedgerow of them that is about 20 feet long and about 6 plants make up the row. Our shrubs have grown to be about 20 feet tall.


----------



## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

I guess it could be considered a tree if you let it grow. Like I said earlier we trim ours back every three or four years. One thing I have wondered is how much nectar the bees actually get from it. I've never seen this listed as a major nectar source. Have you heard?


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

I never knew much about this tree at all until yesterday. I have looked to see if it was be listed as a major nectar source and have not found any information. I do know the honey bee's are crazy over it so that is all that matters to me! I figure that, if it is not a major nectar source, it may be a major pollen source! They gotta have plenty of pollen to feed the brood, right? Well, that helps my colonies so I want it around


----------



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

I have been following your post and did a search for privet honey 
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?219651-Privet-Honey&
Should be good for your bees, maybe not tasty to you?


----------



## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

Thanks ccar. I guess things don't always taste as good as they smell.


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Your first post really threw me off with the size of the "tree" you mentioned. I wouldn't have thought something I have always heard refered to as a bush to be a tree, but as HBD mentioned it grows fast and could become tree like if left alone long enough.

Glad you got it identified though and are happy with the finding.

Here is the NASA site that shows it listed, which you may have already located as well. Says it is not a major source, but that could be because it is blooming at the same time as several others that are listed as major do.

http://honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov/Honeybees/ForageRegion.php?StReg=NC_12

Looking at several sources and comparing the pictures, I think that the plant you are researching is the Chinese Privet. It has leaves that are the closest to what you have in your picture, and seems to be the most common for the area. There are over 50 varieties though, so.....

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LISI


----------



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

I know! I love the Carolina Jasmine on the side fence but it does the bees wrong 

Side Effects in Bees

Honeybee worker
According to the USDA handbook "Diagnosis of Honeybee Diseases," exposure to gelsemium sempervirens nectar has side effects for the young adult bees as well as the larva and pupae in the hives.
The young workers die quickly, while the pupae die and mummify within their cells. Although the older adults appear unaffected, the hive is left greatly weakened by exposure to yellow jasmine nectar.



Read more: Side Effects of Eating Jasmine Flowers | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5147253_side-effects-eating-jasmine-flowers.html#ixzz1L1JaAPTG


----------



## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

ccar2000 said:


> I know! I love the Carolina Jasmine on the side fence but it does the bees wrong
> 
> I went to the website and read the information. Now understand this! I am in no way qualified to argue with these findings, period. However, let me pose this question. Are bee's stupid? I ask because, for as long as I can remember, I have seen this / these vines growing everywhere in my neck of the woods! Honey bee's have always messed around on them and some folks have said that they really hit their Carolina Jasmine vines HARD! My bee colonies are strong as ever and I know for certain that they love the ones around here! So, if it was so bad for them and over the course of all these years of it being around, would it have eradicated the feral colonies along with those located in apiaries? The article states that it affects the larva and young bee's but doesn't appear to affect the older bee's. I most certainly may be wrong but this just seems like a load of crap to me. My .02. Maybe if it was their sole source of pollen and nectar, then I could buy into this...


----------

