Mystery Tree

In March 2015 my wife and kids came home from Wal Mart and my kids had bought me a bonsai tree. Sure enough the tree species was marked "Bonsai" and the surface of the soil was covered with this special magical rocks that had fused together to keep the evil Empire of the Earthworm at bay. Here was the tree as of a year ago:

This is of course after I removed the rocks and put it in a nicer pot. Unfortunately that tree got left outside during a cold snap and it did not survive. However it lives on in about 5 other trees that I started from cuttings from the original tree.
Here is the best cutting to date, it was started last year.
Now I'm pretty sure that the species is not "Bonsai" even though that is against the infinite wisdom of Wal Mart. I have been trying to find out exactly what it is. So far it has been called:
Ficus
Common Privit
Chinese Privit
Gardenia
Jade
Japanese White Pine

I don't know what it is, but I have a folder on my computer and every tree has its own folder that has tree facts, pics and such. I'm just kinda getting tired of seeing the folder UNKNOWN TREE.

This is the latest cutting I started last week. The "pot" is just a ceramic bowl I got from a store called "The Dollar Tree" where everything is a dollar. Brought it home, drilled some holes in it, nicer pot than a Dixie Cup would make.

Looks like a privet to me.

When you break off a leaf, if the sap is clear it is privet. If the sap is milky white, and sticky if you get it on your hands, it is a Ficus.

Privet is genus Ligustrum. I'm thinking Ficus because most privet are cold hardy, which contradicts your loosing a tree to a freeze. Ficus are usually quite sensitive to frost, and death would be common.

Definitely NOT a Pine or a Jade.
My guess is Ficus or Privet.

Leo in N E Illinois said:

I'm thinking Ficus because most privet are cold hardy, which contradicts your loosing a tree to a freeze. Ficus are usually quite sensitive to frost, and death would be common.

Click to expand...

I was thinking Privet until I read this. My Privet handled last year's record setting winter like a champ, and even flowered this year.

A closer and clearer shot of a leaf will give a better clue.

Privet. The leaves are opposite, and ficus are alternate.

Opposite leaves trumps conjecture around cold hardieness.

Back to privet.

I will try to get a better picture of the leaves tomorrow afternoon.

Yeah I'm pretty convinced it is some sort of privet. My neighbor down the street has one growing in his yard, the leaves, bark and everything is identical. The only difference is that his is cold hardy. Thanks for the help friends.

The species is probably glossy privet, Ligustrum lucidum. The large leaved evergreen privets are not as cold hardy as the small leaved deciduous ones. L. lucidum in landscapes has been killed here in Dallas when temperatures went into the single digits. I don't know how cold it got in your location last winter, but it is possible that a small tree in a pot could be killed when a large tree in the ground survived.

Michael P said:

The species is probably glossy privet, Ligustrum lucidum. The large leaved evergreen privets are not as cold hardy as the small leaved deciduous ones. L. lucidum in landscapes has been killed here in Dallas when temperatures went into the single digits. I don't know how cold it got in your location last winter, but it is possible that a small tree in a pot could be killed when a large tree in the ground survived.

Click to expand...

Thank you

I don’t know, but the leaves do kind of look like Suriname Cherry as well. Eugenia uniflora. I have seen this species being sold as mallsai too so made me think it’s possibly that if not the glossy privet.

K5ATG said:

Yeah I'm pretty convinced it is some sort of privet. My neighbor down the street has one growing in his yard, the leaves, bark and everything is identical. The only difference is that his is cold hardy.

Click to expand...

His is mature and in the ground In a pot is a far different situation and require some shelter during Winter until acclimated.

Grimmy

Without any doub, IMHO it is a privet (ligustrum sp)

In Spain and most parts of Europe it is widely use like hedge plant, it's very strong and rustic; once planted in the ground can be hardly to kill . May lost almost all the leaves in winter when temperature fall bellow 0ºC , but normally it is evergreen

I found one in an abandoned place, no watering,(and in Spain, sun has no mercy on summer) no any care for a long time, only the rabbits eating its guts from time to time....but it still was alive. I took it to home, and it reborned like a crazy weed. You can see its history in my blog clik,click

Good look with yours!