In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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February 21, 2008

Scented plant in Iraq

Q: I’m am trying to help my daughter, who is stationed in Iraq, identify a plant. She asks whether there's "a type of eucalyptus or palm tree that has a jasmine-like scent? Every now and then I catch a similar scent in the air, and there's definitely no jasmine around here. However, we do have desert palm trees and some odd form of eucalyptus."

Do you have any idea what the plant could be or how I could find out?
Helen Rains

A: That question stumped me, so I called Warren Roberts, Superintendent of the UC Davis Arboretum. Roberts has studied plants for many years, traveled widely learning about plants, and is a treasure trove of information.

He agrees it’s unlikely the plant is jasmine since it’s too early for jasmine to be blooming. However, he added, there could be jasmine growing in courtyards, so you wouldn’t see them. You’d catch their fragrance in bloom.

His best guess, he says, is Pittosporum undulatum, which blooms early, has a sweet, jasmine-like scent, and almost looks like a eucalyptus.

Also called Victorian box, mock orange, Australian cheesewood, and Victorian laurel, it is a handsome, slender branched tree that can grow upwards of 30 feet. They are some on the coast of California that are 40 feet tall, Roberts says. The flowers are wonderfully fragrant. Native to Australia, it can be invasive.

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