undiscovered native US trees?

I think one under-appreciated species is Acer grandidentatum (Big Tooth Maple). Grows wild in NV to Texas. Small leaves. Great fall color. Hardy. Trunks-up well. No diseases. Hard to find seeds or potted specimens._IGP0544.jpeg
 
Id like to see more witch hazel... hope to collect one maybe this spring if I can make the trip... they may offer the best winter silhouette of any native species due to the mid winter yellow flowers.

Also second maclura pomifera. I believe they can be great if trained patiently.
 
Always wanted to try prunus maritima.
It's native on the east coast
 
I second @Orion_metalhead 's suggestion of witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. I had them on the farm, the autumn-winter blooms were a nice touch, almost invisible in the autumn landscape where all the leaves were turning yellow, but in a pot would be very easy to see and a nice focal point.

All Prunus are nice, the wild species with their smaller flowers are real stand outs in a pot. My only concern with Prunus is the number of diseases they tend to carry, especially if you have a lot of wild Juniperus virginiana within a half mile in the landscape. The rust diseases result in spotted leaves for most of the growing season.
 
A native I am curious about after seeing a couple pretty sweet ones while hiking is Antelope Bitterbrush (Prushida Tridenta), which is in the Roseaceae family. Small leaves, gnarly trunks when older, nice flowers. Maybe kinda leggy. I can see some similarities to potentilla, also roseaceae, in the trunk and flowers. The little I have found as bonsai, specifically yamadori is they tend to have deep tap roots and likely difficult to collect successfully.


Here is an awesome one that really got me looking at them. In the spring I will check its viability to collect but likely leave this one until after I mess with some less impressive examples. Nothing for scale, but this was about 26" tall. Its hard to see but the taper and twist in the trunk makes an amazing informal upright already. Almost just seems like it would needs strengthened and thinned out.

53230688115_3134c501d7_z.jpg


Example of leaves, not peak season. Link below can show you flowers and fuller examples.

53267499046_fafdd71312_z.jpg


General info regarding using them in landscape
 
"All Prunus are nice, the wild species with their smaller flowers are real stand outs in a pot. My only concern with Prunus is the number of diseases they tend to carry, especially if you have a lot of wild Juniperus virginiana within a half mile in the landscape. The rust diseases result in spotted leaves for most of the growing season."

In our region P. mexicana and J. virginiana and often native in the same habitat and the disease problem seems minimal. As landscape plants the biggest problem we have with P. mexicana is borer infestation following drought stress. That should be preventable in bonsai culture.
 
Behr said:
Here in Texas we have several species that show much promise as good bonsai material...I believe the most widely accepted would be the "Texas Ebony' [Pithecellobium ebano], which in recent years has gained popularity in many places outside the area...

We also have the 'Texas Persimmon' [Diospyros texana]...This tree has a lovely light gray bark quite similar in color to the 'zelkova', but the most enduring quality of the tree is the deadwood which becomes a very dark black after about a year exposure to the elements...The contrast created between bark and deadwood is quite striking...

The 'Texas Mountain Cedar' [Juniperus ashe] is a close relative to the 'Eastern Red Cedar' [Juniperus virginiana] with much the same growth habit in nature, but with a softer, thicker, foliage...The species shows much promise, but as with the 'California Juniper' it has seen some difficulty in collecting larger specimens...

The 'Texas Cedar Elm' [Ulmus crassifolia] is another variety that has gained popularity throughout the nation having the smallest natural leaf of all elms native to this country, and they will reduce significantly...

The 'Escarpment Live Oak' [Quercus fusiformis] is an upland [hill country] variety of the 'Southern Live Oak' [virginiana], which also shows much promise for bonsai although I have not witnessed it being widely used...

We also have several varieties that are native to Mexico and southern Texas that have characteristics such as small natural leaf size and good textured bark that I would love to see utilized more...These include the 'Texas Huisache' [Acacia smallii], 'Honey Mesquite' [Prosopis glandulosa], 'Brasil' [Condalia hookeri], and 'Coma Del Sur' [Bumelia celastrina]...These are species that need more research to develop good horticultural practices for bonsai culture, and hopefully in the future this sort of work will be accomplished...

Unfortunately, as is also true with many parts of the nation the main thrust of State organizations has been to teach and develop the 'Japanese' traditional bonsai with traditional species...There does seem to be a few that are working with native U.S. tree species, and I hope this will continue to grow...It is often stated that "American Bonsai" cannot match the Japanese in quality trees...Could this be a result of our efforts to 'copy' rather than develop?...We will never be able to do what the Japanese do, better than they do it...They have too much of a head start on us, and they live the culture rather than study it...

Regards
Behr

:D :D :D
Click to expand...
I have half dozen very small Honey Mesquite started from seed. I have yet to see a natural growing small tree growing in far west TX. Where would this Mesquite grow naturally? River bottoms?
 
Before European settlement, mesquite grew in savanas of south and southwest Texas. Cattle ranching spread the species over most of the state, outside its natural range. In west Texas there are many species of small trees or large shrubs, including many small oaks.
 
Orion_metalhead said:
Id like to see more witch hazel... hope to collect one maybe this spring if I can make the trip... they may offer the best winter silhouette of any native species due to the mid winter yellow flowers.

Also second maclura pomifera. I believe they can be great if trained patiently.
Click to expand...
I have two witch hazel in my yard. I'll have to try some cuttings.
 
A few species that I'm growing out either from seeds or seedling stock. Most of these I've had for 2-3 years, but none are "bonsai" yet. None of these are "undiscovered," but they aren't seen much...yet.
  • Hamamelis vernalis - Trying a seedling clump-fusion project with this. Strong grower with no disease/pest issues so far.
  • Prunus americana - Planted a pencil-sized seedling in the ground 2.5 years ago and it's now 12 feet tall and 3.5 inches at the base. Will start doing bonsai things to it soon.
  • Malus ioensis - (crabapple native to the midwest) Growing from seed for 2 years. Will update in 5 years or so.
  • Pinus echinata - Growing out a bunch of these, they definitely have potential. Bjorn did a few videos on 1 or 2 that he's been working on.
  • Craetaegus phaenopyrum (washington hawthorn) - Once you figure out your rust control regiment, these are super strong growers.
  • Ostrya Virginiana (hop hornbeam) - I have two collected, they collect very well.
  • Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) - I have a friend with several nice shohin. I'm growing out several for clump and shohin projects.
  • Amelanchier genus (serviceberries) - My favorite genus of natives so far. Collect well, super cold-hardy, leaves reduce, flower and fruit, nice bark. I think we will see a bunch of these at big shows in the US in 10-15 years.
 
Kanorin said:
A few species that I'm growing out either from seeds or seedling stock. Most of these I've had for 2-3 years, but none are "bonsai" yet. None of these are "undiscovered," but they aren't seen much...yet.
  • Hamamelis vernalis - Trying a seedling clump-fusion project with this. Strong grower with no disease/pest issues so far.
  • Prunus americana - Planted a pencil-sized seedling in the ground 2.5 years ago and it's now 12 feet tall and 3.5 inches at the base. Will start doing bonsai things to it soon.
  • Malus ioensis - (crabapple native to the midwest) Growing from seed for 2 years. Will update in 5 years or so.
  • Pinus echinata - Growing out a bunch of these, they definitely have potential. Bjorn did a few videos on 1 or 2 that he's been working on.
  • Craetaegus phaenopyrum (washington hawthorn) - Once you figure out your rust control regiment, these are super strong growers.
  • Ostrya Virginiana (hop hornbeam) - I have two collected, they collect very well.
  • Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) - I have a friend with several nice shohin. I'm growing out several for clump and shohin projects.
  • Amelanchier genus (serviceberries) - My favorite genus of natives so far. Collect well, super cold-hardy, leaves reduce, flower and fruit, nice bark. I think we will see a bunch of these at big shows in the US in 10-15 years.
Click to expand...
I like your whole list. Nice choices.

I would consider adding Cornus sericea - red twig dogwood also known as red osier. The twigs only stay red for a year or two, then bark turns gray. But should be a nice color addition to the bench. Every other year pruning, or every third year a hard cut back would bring a new flush of bright red twigs.
 
Last edited:
Leo in N E Illinois said:
I like your whole list. Nice choices.

I would consider adding Cornus sericea - red twig dogwood also known as red osier. The twigs only stay red for a year or two, then bark turns gray. But should be a nice color addition to the bench. Every other year pruning, or every third year a hard cut back would bring a new flush of bright red twigs.
Click to expand...
Thanks, you helped me choose a few of those 2-3 years ago after I listed a number of native species offered by the missouri department of conservation.
 
Kanorin said:
Craetaegus phaenopyrum (washington hawthorn) - Once you figure out your rust control regiment, these are super strong growers.
Click to expand...

What is your rust control regimen? I had one a couple of years ago that was so riddled with nasty fungi that I just discarded it. I sprayed it weekly with Daconil, but that didn't seem to help. It's a shame, because it had a really nice root spread.
 
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