ID this one

[Radar67]

Here is one for ya'll to ID. I don't have a clue.












Stew

[Tom]

buttonbush 
Cephalanthus occidentalis

[Dodgy Loner]

I second Tom's response.  It's a large shrub or small tree that occurs in swampy regions throughout the eastern U.S. and central Mexico.  The showy white flowers make it an occasional ornamental, especially among native gardeners.

[WDH]

The plant is nicely whorled ;D.

[Dodgy Loner]

The only southeastern tree other than Catalpa with whorled leaves, if I'm not mistaken 8).

[WDH]

That is an interesting observation, DL.  I have not thought about that before now.  You are probably right, but it bears some more thinking  :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P ;D.

[Dodgy Loner]

I do know that buttonbush and catalpa are the only native GA trees with whorled leaves, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some tropical South Florida anomaly to spoil my previous statement.  (Of course, I did say that I'm right "if I'm not mistaken".  That covers all my bases, don't it? ;D)

[WDH]

That South Florida stuff is always a wrench in the gears :.  Latitude is aggravating, you know ;).

[Dodgy Loner]

One of my dreams (and I'm still naive young enough to have a lot of them) is to own a piece of land in South Florida and try to grow some of the tropical plants down there - mahogany, lignum vitae, rosewood, acacia, etc.  Given the price of land, it'll probably never happen unless I stumble upon a treasure chest sometime in the near future...but like I said, it's a dream ;D.

[Tom]

You better do it in a hurry. You might find some that is affordable around Belle Glade.

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm in more of a hurry to graduate and find a job.  I get my Master's degree in August.  They pay us teaching assistants $1000/month, so buying land is not on the agenda right now :D :D :D.

[DanG]

Here y'all go with them terms again!  What is "whorled?"

[Tom]

Dan,
"It is neither the circle nor the square......but the spiral that leads to the top of the stairs."

[WDH]

Dang, it is where all the leaves originate from the same point on the stem.  When you look down the stem at the point where the leaf petioles attach to the stem, the attachment points form a circle around the stem, so they are "whorled". 

Some plants have leaves that alternate along the stem.  Some plants (much less common), have leaves that come off the stem in pairs.  So there are two leaves attached to the stem at the same point on the stem like in maple or ash. 

Whorled is where more than two leaves originate from the same point on the stem.  They form a circle around the stem.  Maybe three leaves or four leaves sprout from the same point on the stem.