tay666
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Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: North East Ohio

Tree ID?

Need some help identifying a tree in my yard.
This thing sprang up in my yard about 12-15 years ago.

A good look at the bark.
[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree1.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree11.jpg[/img][/url]

The leaves, and some of the berries.
[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree2.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree21.jpg[/img][/url]

A look at more of the overall tree, and a better indication of the true bark color.
[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree3.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree31.jpg[/img][/url]

I need to know what kind of tree this is, so I know how big it will get.
It's in a very crowded area of my yard, and I am trying to figure out if I want to keep this tree, or the very mature wild cherry tree about 15 feet away.
If this is going to reach a height tall enough to become a decent shade tree, then I will keep it, and start making plans on what to do with the cherry. As it is getting old, and starting to drop some branches and such.
If not, then I want to drop it before it gets any bigger, and start formulating plans on what I do want for shade, and where I want to put it.

I can just about walk upright under it right now. But I want to know if the canopy is going to get tall enough to really get clear of the Rose of Sharon behind it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ccar2000
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Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:53 pm
Location: Littlerock, CA USDA 9a 3,ooo ft Elevation

I foud this on google:
Do you think it is a common buckthorn?

https://forums.arborday.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4363&sid=7ee400493eb125313d61c8b13206428e

https://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/common-buckthorn.pdf

tay666
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Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: North East Ohio

Looks close, but I don't think it is.
The leaves on mine don't match the description.

While my leaves are oval, they are more an offset oval.
And most (not all) the leaves also have a sort of notch in them.

I'll have to pull some off and get a better picture of the leaves themselves.

Also, the flow color is wrong.
If I remember correctly mine flower white. Very small and fine.
Will know in a few weeks, as mine hasn't flowered yet this year.

Mine does not have any spines either.

Thanks for trying though.

tay666
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Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: North East Ohio

Ok, here are some better pics of the leaves.

[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree4.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree41.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree6.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree61.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree5.jpg][img]https://www.tylisaari.com/me/pics/plants/tree51.jpg[/img][/url]

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Pineville
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Location: Bucks County, PA

Mulberry.

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rainbowgardener
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Maybe... does it have leaves of any other shape than pictured? Mulberry is a unique tree in that it has three different kinds of leaves on the same tree:

[url=https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4H/RedMulberry/RedMulberryLeafWeb.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4H/RedMulberry/RedMulberry.htm&h=308&w=450&sz=36&tbnid=JwXUGxY1zoUqrM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=127&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmulberry%2Bleaf%2Bimages%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=mulberry+leaf+images&usg=__xV95w2HTroa6YpS3JQ-1bHipvAo=&sa=X&ei=3a7-TbOTCoGp0AGou_TFAw&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAQ]mulberry leaves[/url]

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I'm confused. The close up of leaves that you posted doesn't match the #2 photo in the first set. The leaves don't appear to have the serration or the prominent veins.

I agree the close up looks a lot like mulberry leaves but the spherical berries in the #2 photo are certainly not mulberries.

:?

tay666
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Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: North East Ohio

The 2nd photo in the first set was taken of the tree itself and cropped down a bit to just focus on the leaves and fruit.
Hence it is somewhat out of focus and doesn't show a good angle on most of the leaves.

That is why I broke off a small branch and took the close-ups in the second set.
The 2nd picture in the second set is of the underside of the leaves. Which is why the veining looks so prominent.

The tree does have at least 2 different kinds of leaves.
You can see them in that second photo of the 2nd set.
The one pointing at 6 o'clock with the deep notch in it.
And the one just above it that is rounder and much more oval shaped.

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applestar
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So the fruits are not round and shiny the way they appear in the photo, but more like blackberries?

Hortman
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Location: Chicago area

Hello tay666. If you put the leaves in all the pictures with the fruit in picture #2, the
tree could be common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). My sources say the fruits become
wrinkled and prune-like with age. The tree doesn't leaf out until mid-spring. I hope this helps.

tay666
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Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: North East Ohio

Hortman - that sounds about right.
I did some research on hackberry. And that very well could be what I have.
Probably from a seed spread by a bird.
When it originally started growing, it was at he base / stump of a dead tree that had fallen over like 3 years previous.
As such, it didn't actually get mowed. So, if a seed germinated there, it could have taken rook and took off.
(originally I thought that maybe it might have sprouted from that dead tree's root system. But the growing habits seem different.
(the dead tree was dead when we bought the house in 92. Very tall, straight, some scraggly branches at the very top, and about a 3' diameter.)

I think this one sprouted up around 97 / 98. And is about 30' tall now.
It was very fast growing the first few years. So fast, I thought I might have a Tulip tree (which is what I think the dead tree was)
As it got taller, I pruned the lower branches hoping to make a nice single trunk with a decent canopy. So far, so good!
It also seems it will make a good natural companion to the wild black cherry about 40' from it.

I will add some more photos when the fruit shows up this year.
Just to confirm the identification.

cynthia_h
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Sassafras trees also have three shapes of leaves on the same tree. (I didn't know about the mulberries; the ones out here have only one leaf shape per tree.)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

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!potatoes!
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I agree with applestar, that the last pics look like mulberry, but the earlier pic of leaves with round shiny berries absolutely does not. it does look hackberryish.

and both sassafras and many mulberries do the three-leaf-shapes thing.



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