Re: ID of shrub

Richard,
 
If the leaves are soft and smell like burnt rubber when crushed, it is definitely one of the Clerodendrums.  I have C. trichotomum which has clusters of white star-shaped flowers.  Mine is trained into a 10-foot tree with a bare trunk and an umbrella spread of 10-12 feet. Metallic blue berries form in the red calyxes, brighter blue than the photo shows.
 
C. bungei has rose red flowers, is more of a shrub that suckers, and the leaves have a rusty fuzz beneath.
 
The only other suggestion is the Seven Sons shrub from China.  It also has clusters of white flowers, rusty red calyxes and dark blue berries.  I can't think of the correct name for it at the moment.  The leaves look similar, are soft, not hairy, and odorless.  The deer eat mine mercilessly.
 
Diane Pertson
Vancouver Island
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 8:02 PM
Subject: ID of shrub

This is hardly a med climate plant, but I was hoping someone could identify this shrub:
 
 
Was in fruit on October 3, at the US National Arboretum in Washington D.C. (of course not
labeled, but in an asian collection), at a time when autumn was just beginning - oaks were
dropping acorns, dowoods were in fruit, but only a few trees had begun to turn color.
 
Richard Starkeson
San Francisco
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