Ephedra tweediana--"Cousin Itt Plant"

[fastfeat]

While on a recent tour of Santa Barbara parks, Randy Baldwin at San Marcos Growers showed this interesting vining shrub, native to South America. It's trained on a steel frame and has become somewhat free-standing with age. More here at the San Marcos site.

Ephedraceae is a primitive family that includes Mormon tea and other plants that have been used to make stimulant teas (and other compounds considered to be scourges to society, so I've heard... )

[MattyB]

Twack plant

[Stevetoad]

funky

[Mats]

To show the importance of the Latin name, San Marcos is selling another new introduction from Australia which they gave the common name - 'Cousin Itt'.

Oh, after reading San Marcos' description of the Ephedra tweediana I see it's Annie's Annuals who called it 'Cousin Itt'.

Acacia cognata Cousin Itt ['Mini Cog'] - Little River Wattle.

The Aussies must not have seen 'The Munsters' TV series because down there it's known as Acacia cognata 'Mini Cog'.

[fastfeat]

To show the importance of the Latin name, San Marcos is selling another new introduction from Australia which they gave the common name - 'Cousin Itt'.

Oh, after reading San Marcos' description of the Ephedra tweediana I see it's Annie's Annuals who called it 'Cousin Itt'.

Acacia cognata Cousin Itt ['Mini Cog'] - Little River Wattle.

The Aussies must not have seen 'The Munsters' TV series because down there it's known as Acacia cognata 'Mini Cog'.

In fairness to SMG, they casually referred to it as a "Cousin Itt" plant (their actual common name given is Tramontana). I suggested to Randy Baldwin that they adopt that name as a way to get some sales traction, and hence put the common name in quotes.

Very interesting A. cognata cultivar. This tree (species, not cv.) was once recommended as a street tree in SoCal, but it has fallen out of favor for such use. It seems sensitive to heavy soils and too much water. Crowns usually were very thin and trees very short-lived. OK as a garden tree where conditions could be modified to its liking. I've never seen this shrubby form; great potential if such dense growth could be obtained on CA soils.

[Mats]

Randy spoke at Roger's Gardens last fall and had a nice 5 gal. A cognata 'Cousin Itt' in his presentation. It would make a great looking container plant.

This tree (species, not cv.) was once recommended as a street tree in SoCal, but it has fallen out of favor for such use. It seems sensitive to heavy soils and too much water. Crowns usually were very thin and trees very short-lived.

That's too bad because A cognata is a great looking tree from the photos I see. SMGrowers are selling 5 gal., 15 gal. and 24" boxed A cognata.

Ken, does Acacia stenophylla do well in So. Cal or is it also a case of amending the soil and limiting water?

[fastfeat]

Randy spoke at Roger's Gardens last fall and had a nice 5 gal. A cognata 'Cousin Itt' in his presentation. It would make a great looking container plant.

This tree (species, not cv.) was once recommended as a street tree in SoCal, but it has fallen out of favor for such use. It seems sensitive to heavy soils and too much water. Crowns usually were very thin and trees very short-lived.

That's too bad because A cognata is a great looking tree from the photos I see. SMGrowers are selling 5 gal., 15 gal. and 24" boxed A cognata.

Ken, does Acacia stenophylla do well in So. Cal or is it also a case of amending the soil and limiting water?

I'd love to see some pics of nice older A. cognata in SoCal. We sold a fair number of them when I worked at Amling's Nursery in Newport Beach, and I saw a fair number in CdM yards a few years later, but they didn't seem as adaptable as Agonis, Geijera used similarly. And I remember the City of Newport Beach planted a few street trees (Avocado?, Begonia?), but most were promptly overwatered. I haven't been down there for at least five years; maybe some still persist?

A. stenophylla is rather tolerant to soils and climates, though I think it's a better tree inland than near the coast. It grows fast and can be too pulpy if given too much water in coastal areas. Looks better (IMO) as a tree for dry slopes inland, rather than in a lawn in coastal OC. Seedpods can be profuse, unsightly. And they will root sucker profusely if surface roots are damaged. (A big one at Fullerton Arboretum that has started listing recently has a huge thicket of root suckers below it.)

One species that I saw commonly that is a nice, slender weeper that looks very much like Pittosporum phillyraeoides is Acacia salicina (Willow-leaf acacia). It does very well in low desert, but I don't have experience with it in coastal climates. Might be worth a look.

[bahia]

Both Acacia cognata and A. stenophylla do well here in the SF bay area, and I've never noticed any particular problems with them growing here with clay soils or normal irrigation. On the other hand, A. cognata does require quite a bit of corrective thinning and shaping to keep it looking good in my opinion. A. stenophylla was quite popular here back in the early 1990's, but isn't much planted these days. I wasn't aware of the aggressive roots/shoots issue. Are they as bad as Maytens?

[fastfeat]

Are they as bad as Maytens?

I've only seen a few A. stenophylla do this, but when it occurs, it's pretty ugly.

I knew a guy who worked for the City of Monterey who had a house in Seaside where he'd removed a (few?) maytens from his yard. Several years later he was still removing root suckers through his deck and even in the rafters in his garage! If you're going to remove one in the yard, I'd strongly recommend killing the entire tree with glyphosate or similar first.