New Prunus cultivar?

[Pitoon]

So by now most would know that I'm a propagation nut. Everywhere I go I am always looking around at plants. I look for oddities like leaf shape or color, flowers, height, etc......

Well today while driving home on the highway I noticed some super pink flowers........so I had to turn around to investigate. The colors of these flowers were so intense, and it's a wild tree off the road on the other side of the guardrail.

I tagged the tree so I would remember it when I go back to visit when it's leafed out. I know it's in the Prunus family, but with no leaves or fruit I can't tell exactly what it is. But could you imagine this tree in full bloom as a bonsai? It would be spectacular! I plan to get some cuttings this summer once the first flush hardens off. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what exactly it is.

 

[Adam060510]

Looks like Eastern redbud

 

[Pitoon]

Looks like Eastern redbud

I know for sure it's not a Redbud as the flowers are not the same. Redbud flowers are tiny compared to these. Also Redbuds are not in bloom yet in this location.

These flowers to me remind me of Peach flowers, but these are not fragrant. The bark on the trunk looks exactly like cherry. Without seeing the leaves and what fruit it produces it will be impossible to tell what this is.

 

[Carol 83]

Whatever it is, the flowers are beautiful.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Kwanzan?

 

[Pitoon]

Nope not possible, Kwanzan is the last of the flowering cherries to bloom. Kwanzan are also double flowers, these are singles.

 

[Mikecheck123]

So by now most would know that I'm a propagation nut. Everywhere I go I am always looking around at plants. I look for oddities like leaf shape or color, flowers, height, etc......

Well today while driving home on the highway I noticed some super pink flowers........so I had to turn around to investigate. The colors of these flowers were so intense, and it's a wild tree off the road on the other side of the guardrail.

I tagged the tree so I would remember it when I go back to visit when it's leafed out. I know it's in the Prunus family, but with no leaves or fruit I can't tell exactly what it is. But could you imagine this tree in full bloom as a bonsai? It would be spectacular! I plan to get some cuttings this summer once the first flush hardens off. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what exactly it is.

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Not unprecedented for there to be a drive by discovery.

A couple of years ago, a guy driving up in Napa saw a weird looking blue oak growing on the side of the road. New dwarf cultivar!

 

[Shibui]

From the flowers, new leaves and young twigs I would say that is a peach. Flowers come in a variety of shades and there are some double flowered varieties that seem to be reasonably stable when grown from seed.
We have a double flowered very dark red one in the garden here and another double white flowering peach showing that a range of color forms is possible.
I have not checked smell of peach flowers but I assume like other species that fragrance will also vary from one individual to another.
I agree that waiting for fruit will be the best chance of a more accurate ID.

 

[Pitoon]

From the flowers, new leaves and young twigs I would say that is a peach. Flowers come in a variety of shades and there are some double flowered varieties that seem to be reasonably stable when grown from seed.
We have a double flowered very dark red one in the garden here and another double white flowering peach showing that a range of color forms is possible.
I have not checked smell of peach flowers but I assume like other species that fragrance will also vary from one individual to another.
I agree that waiting for fruit will be the best chance of a more accurate ID.

I'm also thinking this is a peach. The flowers are quite large compared to flowering cherries. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out this summer if it has any fruit. It's still a pretty nice tree if it's a peach.

 

[Adam060510]

Could be I live in eastern Ohio along the Ohio river and my neighbors peaches are blooming already

 

[Ohmy222]

my first thought was peach. They have hot pink flowers often and are also abundant. If it is then the leaves will normally be longer than normal and slender. Length of the leaves make bonsai pretty difficult.

 

[Pitoon]

my first thought was peach. They have hot pink flowers often and are also abundant. If it is then the leaves will normally be longer than normal and slender. Length of the leaves make bonsai pretty difficult.

I am also leaning towards it being a peach (Prunus persica) by flower. You are absolutely correct, peach leaves are long an slender. Below I've attached some 'Nemaguard' seedlings, the leaves will just get longer and longer as they mature. There's a lot of variety within the persica species. Some are grown for fruit while others for flowers like the 'Corinthian Rose' cultivar.

Next step that would really help with the identification would be the leaves, then the fruit if it produces any.

The wintering/early spring flowering Prunus sp. are trained as bonsai more for the flowers than anything else. For most, the leaves won't reduce at all. But with you train them the entire year to show/enjoy them leafless in bloom. It's really the silhouette and the flowers you enjoy for those two weeks or so, the rest of the year you should be training the tree for those two weeks.

 

[Rivian]

The young shoots, the shape of the twigs and their color, as well as the already mentioned flowers all make me think its a peach and not a cherry, I agree with you.
I tried bonsai-ing a stray peach seedling 10 years ago but found it to be too apically dominant, the lower branches grew weak.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

So by now most would know that I'm a propagation nut. Everywhere I go I am always looking around at plants. I look for oddities like leaf shape or color, flowers, height, etc......

Well today while driving home on the highway I noticed some super pink flowers........so I had to turn around to investigate. The colors of these flowers were so intense, and it's a wild tree off the road on the other side of the guardrail.

I tagged the tree so I would remember it when I go back to visit when it's leafed out. I know it's in the Prunus family, but with no leaves or fruit I can't tell exactly what it is. But could you imagine this tree in full bloom as a bonsai? It would be spectacular! I plan to get some cuttings this summer once the first flush hardens off. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what exactly it is.

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Try Almonds. They look exactly like this. Also in the prunus family.

 

[Pitoon]

Try Almonds. They look exactly like this. Also in the prunus family.

Maybe? But these flowers were not fragrant. The leaves and fruit if there is any will for sure help to identify.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I'm thinking peach.

 

[AlainK]

I'm thinking peach.

I second that, some variety of peach, or apricot. The colour of the stems in the first photos (light brown, maybe pointing to some copper red ?) makes me think of apricot.

 

[Pitoon]

So today I was able to pass by and take a couple pics. The tree has since leafed out and has some fruit set. The leaves tell me peach, and the fruit seems to be nectarine. Got to make another stop sometime next month to do a another check.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I'm inclined to think you are right, peach, or maybe nectarine. If the fruit remain smooth, then you have nectarine. Peach and nectarine almost always have pink to purple pink flowers. They begin blooming fairly quickly from seed, sometimes in less than 5 years.

Culinary apricot, the one grown for fruit, have white flowers, or usually have white flowers. Prunus armeniaca.
Prunus mume, in Japanese called Ume, sometimes called flowering apricot has white flowers in its normal, wild form. It is grown as a fruit crop and as an ornamental. There are selected color forms including pink and even red in ornamental varieties.

There are a dozen or so Prunus species that get called apricot, most have white flowers. Some are grown for fruit, some are grown for their kernel, which is used similar to the way the related almonds are used.

Almond is Prunus dulcis, sometimes called Prunus amygdalus, tends to have white to light pink flowers.
Flowering Almond is a different species, Prunus glandulosa, the most common cultivated form has double light pink flowers.

Prunus triloba and Prunus jacquemontii are usually called flowering cherries, but sometimes they are labelled flowering almond or flowering plum. Mainly used for ornamental purposes rather than for fruit. White or pink flowers.

Peaches, Prunus persica, have pink flowers in its "normal" form, the type raised for fruit. Some double flowered forms are used as ornamental flowering trees. Nectarines are a smooth skin variety of peach, they are not a separate species. They too have pink flowers. The smooth skin with no fuzz is a single gene mutation that occurs in peach. Nectarines have arisen multiple times in the production of peaches and are preferred by some people.

 

[Pitoon]

I was able to pass by the tree today so I made a quick stop to get some pics. I'm leaning more and more towards nectarine.