Thanks Lilli. Ones I have looked at are;
Russet Wings, Wills 1945 (MLa) - quite similar. Mine is early flowering
Argosy, Jean Stevens (M) - bronze flecks on falls, beards darker;
Capri, Schreiner 1935 (M-L); Capri is also very like mine - but is mid-late flowering; standards reported as clear warm yellow, beards more orange than mine which are yellow.
Glenn-Ellen, Connell-Williams 1939 (M); similar - beards appear a little darker
Naranja, Mitchell 1935 (MLa); similar again - though Naranja's form tends to vary. My little yellow/bronze has perfect form with every bloom.
Halloween Night, Howard Weed 1943 (L). Also similar but late flowering.
Sunol, Mohr Mitchell 1955 (M); is a strong possibility. Reported to have candelabrum type branching that carries 8-9 flowers - which sounds very like mine. Multiple blooms would give long flowering season as mine has.
The closest I can come to it is 'Alta California' (M) or Sunol. Some photos of Alta California look very like mine, but other photos do not show the all over bronze. My little unknown has clear lemon standards, whereas the closest description of Alta California states clear yellow standards. Alta California is Mid flowering, mine is Early flowering.
I have decided that I need to do a bud count on mine when it flowers again this year (see if matches Sunol) - then try and find bud count on others as well for comparison. Because there are so few historics around - it make the identification just that more difficult - being unable to see them in the 'flesh' to see if they might match.
Have only been trying to identify this little beauty for 9-10 years. LOL
