Seed silhouette

One of my favourite trees is Kalopanax septemlobus, which I got to know as K. pictus - before that it was K. ricinifolius. Why do taxonomists never make their minds up!

Our tree has flowered for the first time this year; I only noticed the seed head when all the leaves had fallen - here's a silhouette. I must try to reach it and grow some seedlings.

It's a native of Japan and other parts of the Far East and makes a handsome medium sized tree here, its stout stems covered in short, sharp spines. It's grown as an ornamental foliage plant and has a decidedly tropical look about it, though it's reckoned to be hardy to minus 40°C.

The best specimen I know grows outside the Kibble Palace in Glasgow Botanic Garden. You can see a picture of this tree in winter here. A picture of the foliage and spiny stems can be seen here.