Thank you @JennyJ@Silver surfer@Busy-Lizzie@Dovefromabove@Rubytoo for your suggestions. I will send more photos. My plant is about 36" / 91cm tall at its height, with the shape like umbrella spokes cascading down in a very soft, flexible way. The trunk of the plant is no more than 1cm diameter and the stems are less woody than the trunk, very light in weight, the effect is of something floating. The leaves are almost translucent in the way that maidenhair fern/ Adiantum raddianum is. The leaves have hardly any veining on them.
Thank you for your thoughts re Symphoricarpos/snowberry. I had a look at this plant and then saw @Silver surfer your photos too. I think Symphoricarpos seems heavier built than my mystery plant: weighter leaves and stems and deeper heavier veining too. Does anyone know if Symphoricarpos can be more translucent and 'featherweight'?
I had a look at all I could find in the Caprifoliaceae family, & none seem to have the translucent, featherweight qualities of my mystery plant. The nearest plant in terms of shape seemed to be Linnae amabilis, but only in those respects.
@Rubytoo I have never pruned it, it is a lovely shape, so I have never needed too and have not wanted to because I have no idea what it is. I think your idea about the shape was right, but all the types of Lonicera I then looked up seem more sturdy-framed and not with the same degree of translucent, featherweight qualities in the leaves.
I remember I bought a selection of 9cm plants and planted them in the area the mystery plant is. All this was about 7 years' ago, before I moved the tubs of plants around it ( temporary measurecdue to the landscaping fabric) and all I can recall is buying a Philadelphus/ mock orange a Weigela & Escallonia which were tiny & poor quality and failed. Perhaps the plant was mislabelled & is the only one remaining, or maybe it seeded itself! It is very beautiful and reminds me of how a young Cotinus can float in the breeze in a translucent way, especially in sun. Better photos to follow!
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In your images above I cannot tell which leaves to look at! I can see bare twigs, an Acer like leaf, a twining vine Jasminum officinalis, bulb leaves etc
I had lots of pics of Kolkwitzia amabilis syn Linnea amabilis showing flowers, but few of the leaves. So just been out to take some leaf pics..not easy. Stems are densely hairy. They seem to have glands on the edges...see pic 2
The new growth of snowberry is quite soft and feathery. Here are a few shoots of it that I just pulled out of my hedge, where it keeps coming up despite the main plant having been removed a few years ago (on an A4 notebook for scale).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I am now very confused. Leaves look to be compound with leaflets in pairs. Note where stalk meets stem. See you last pic...bottom most leaves. I cannot steal it and trim it and re post here.
Thank you @Silver surfer . Your photos of Kolkwitzia amabilis syn Linnea amabilis (lovely specimen you have!) I think tells me this is not my mystery plant. Your good photos show more veining and hair. I cannot capture the level of detail on my leaves that show how translucent the leaves are & how delicate the stems are. The leaves of mine have the delicacy of a maidenhaircfern /Adiantum raddianum in terms of 'weight' and I think your plant is much weightier with more hair and veining ( I cannot see any hairs on mine). I agree with your description that my leaves are compound and in pairs.
Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus
Thankyou @JennyJ . Your photos capture the detail of your Symphoricarpos well. I am going to check my plant against yours in daylight. There are similarities, maybe they are the same. My main hesitation is that all my leaves have the same translucent quality, even the older ones. I will check the undersides of mine and compare with your photos!
Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus
I had a look at all I could find in the Caprifoliaceae family, & none seem to have the translucent, featherweight qualities of my mystery plant. The nearest plant in terms of shape seemed to be Linnae amabilis, but only in those respects.
I only posted pics of Kolkwitzia amabilis syn Linnea amabilis as you mentioned it. Agree your new pics are nothing like it.
I can see from your pic just how translucent and thin textured mystery plant is....interesting.
Maybe we need to wait till leaves are fully formed./they are still very fresh and young. Please can you check.....they appear to be alternate on the branch with compound leaflets which are opposite. ( That rules out Caprifoliaceae family)
Posts
Thank you for your thoughts re Symphoricarpos/snowberry. I had a look at this plant and then saw @Silver surfer your photos too. I think Symphoricarpos seems heavier built than my mystery plant: weighter leaves and stems and deeper heavier veining too. Does anyone know if Symphoricarpos can be more translucent and 'featherweight'?
I had a look at all I could find in the Caprifoliaceae family, & none seem to have the translucent, featherweight qualities of my mystery plant. The nearest plant in terms of shape seemed to be Linnae amabilis, but only in those respects.
@Rubytoo I have never pruned it, it is a lovely shape, so I have never needed too and have not wanted to because I have no idea what it is. I think your idea about the shape was right, but all the types of Lonicera I then looked up seem more sturdy-framed and not with the same degree of translucent, featherweight qualities in the leaves.
I remember I bought a selection of 9cm plants and planted them in the area the mystery plant is. All this was about 7 years' ago, before I moved the tubs of plants around it ( temporary measurecdue to the landscaping fabric) and all I can recall is buying a Philadelphus/ mock orange a Weigela & Escallonia which were tiny & poor quality and failed. Perhaps the plant was mislabelled & is the only one remaining, or maybe it seeded itself! It is very beautiful and reminds me of how a young Cotinus can float in the breeze in a translucent way, especially in sun. Better photos to follow!
In your images above I cannot tell which leaves to look at!
I can see bare twigs, an Acer like leaf, a twining vine Jasminum officinalis, bulb leaves etc
https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/kolkwitzia/kolkwitzia-amabilis/
I had lots of pics of Kolkwitzia amabilis syn Linnea amabilis showing flowers, but few of the leaves.
So just been out to take some leaf pics..not easy.
Stems are densely hairy.
They seem to have glands on the edges...see pic 2
Apologies ..you posted new pics while I was faffing downloading /editing my pics.
Sorry.
Leaves look to be compound with leaflets in pairs.
Note where stalk meets stem.
See you last pic...bottom most leaves.
I cannot steal it and trim it and re post here.
Agree your new pics are nothing like it.
I can see from your pic just how translucent and thin textured mystery plant is....interesting.
Maybe we need to wait till leaves are fully formed./they are still very fresh and young.
Please can you check.....they appear to be alternate on the branch with compound leaflets which are opposite. ( That rules out Caprifoliaceae family)