Fuzzy Tree Bloom With Leaf

Unidentified Fuzzy Tree Flowers

Unidentified Tree Bloom Close-Up

Photo taken at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh NC in early March, 2008.

I didn’t get the detailed photos that I needed and I really have no idea what kind of tree/bloom this is – or even if it was a blooming tree rather than a shrub (my memory fails me).

The blooms were awesome, fuzzy and I can’t identify them to save my life. I neglected taking any photos of the leaf structure so it was proven quite difficult. If I remember correctly, the tree was about 15-20 feet high and spread out a bit like a canopy – not too unlike a willow but not as whimsical? I could be off though! I didn’t think to take in the details because I didn’t imagine I’d be trying to identify it nearly a year later.

The flowers hung downward so that you had to get up under them to view the blooms. The blooms were various shades of white and yellow, and almost looked like buttered popcorn. I was quickly distracted by a big Cardinal so I didn’t get many photos. I don’t ever remember just seeing Cardinals in Utah and I can’t say I ever saw them in Massachusetts or Florida either – moving the North Carolina was my introduction to being welcome to spring by these fantastic red birds!