SOLVED: Some kind of willow?

I am having a tough time identifying this tree which is in a landscaped urban region of the SF Bay Area. There are lots of willows around (weeping and others) and this one looks like a willow, but I cannot find any willow that has this distinctive fruit, one capsule per axil. It is not a bottle brush tree which has distinctly different fruit. I’ve included a photo of the entire tree, and a photo of a 4 inch branch tip showing the leaves and fruit. That’s the tip of my thumb for reference. Thanks!

My first thought was an acacia though the pods I have seen are usually odd shaped and bigger but there are so many in the Bay Area I have never seen. But some acacia will bloom just like that along the stem. My next thought was a gum because of the look of the seed pods. Corymbia, then of course an Eucalyptus. But not sure if any of those bloom right on the branch like that. Other than those, I have no clue.

Thank you so much for your thoughts on this! After doing a Google reverse image search and browsing hundreds of photographs I finally found it. It's Agonis flexuosa (Australian Willow Myrtle, Peppermint Tree). Listed in Dave's Garden and elsewhere. Thank you for your input!


This message was edited Oct 10, 2021 11:20 AM

This message was edited Oct 10, 2021 11:20 AM

I must admit Agonis flexuosa never occurred to me but hey, I got the correct family Myrtaceae. LOL

Ironically, I added most of those Agonis flexuosa photos to PlantFiles myself. OOPS! LOL

Pray tell what is Google reverse image search?

I’m so new at this I didn’t even know about the Plant Files, so thanks again!

You can ask Google to search for images similar to one you yourself upload to the search window. Look for the little camera icon next to the search window when you are in Google (see attached screen shot: to the right of the search window there is a microphone icon and write beside it is the camera icon). Once you click on the camera icon (and give permissions if necessary) you will be given the choice of taking a photo then and there, or choosing a photo from your photo album. I’ve attached the 3 successive screens you’ll pass through on your way to picking the image you want to search with. It’s not as complicated as I’m making it sound!

LOL It does sounds complicated but I will for sure try it. I find if I have even a small clue of what the plant is, it is then can be fairly easy to find the ID. Of course I failed in this case. LOL I had the family right just not the genus. But it is such fun looking.