The Original Mystery Plant
Dr. John Nelson

Photo by Stacey Jensen

The Mystery Plant is one of the chief contributors to this season's fall foliage color. It is a common species related to the tupelo of southern swamps, but this species grows on upland sites.

It occurs in a variety of high- ground sites from New England to the upper Midwest, and south to Florida and Texas. It is potentially a large tree, which can grow up to 100 feet tall. It produces gray, rough bark, which is checkered like alligator skin on big individuals and is similar to persimmon.

The branches come straight out of the trunk at a 90- degree angle. Branches and twigs are generally smooth and gray or reddish. The leaves are standard and boring, smooth and shiny, and shaped like footballs with a slightly pointed tip.

A good clue for identifying the mystery plant is the leaf scar. There will be three equally- sized vascular bundle scars appearing like dots in a row. (Persimmon has a single crescent- like vascular bundle scar inside the leaf scar, which looks like a smile.)

Summer- time flowers, male and female, are produced on the same tree. The flowers are small and yellowish. The male flowers are in clusters, while female flowers occur at the ends of small stalks, usually one or two, sometimes three, at a time.

The fruits mature in the fall as the foliage changes color. Each fruit is a fleshy drupe that contains a single ridged seed. The fruits are an attractive gun- metal blue and wildly popular with a lot of the birds, but it's the foliage that makes the tree a standout.

The leaves turn early in the autumn. At first, a given tree will bear a mixture of both green and red leaves. As fall progresses, there is more red. The red is a brilliant scarlet, which makes the mystery plant one of the most colorful in the forests.

For growing in your yard, this one is really nice, a native tree giving a combination of shade, food for the birds, and unbeatable fall color.