Did I just find an Elm tree?

[DavidBoren]

This was growing out of some bushes in the front yard.

I used garden hose hydraulic fracturing to remove the soil around the roots, and pulled it up... the tree had some decent roots, I already had the pot just sitting around, and the soil was actually already in the pot. Said soil is an organic mix of different soils taken from the pots of trees that didn't survive the summer, so it is fertile and moist and relatively decent as far as organic soil goes.

Anyways, Google Lens suggests Elm...

 

[penumbra]

It is an elm but it has a long tow before you will have anything. Let it grow, chop, grow, chop, grow, chop................
I have an issue with the leaf reduction on my elm. New leaves every bit as large as first season leaves. Maybe my plant is too vigorous. Also, insects love to eat elm leaves. I only keep it because it has a trunk with promise.
Also, if you are going to keep it, now is a good time to put a little movement in the trunk low enough to allow for a good chop.

 

[BrianBay9]

It is an elm but it has a long tow before you will have anything. Let it grow, chop, grow, chop, grow, chop................
I have an issue with the leaf reduction on my elm. New leaves every bit as large as first season leaves. Maybe my plant is too vigorous. Also, insects love to eat elm leaves. I only keep it because it has a trunk with promise.
Also, if you are going to keep it, now is a good time to put a little movement in the trunk low enough to allow for a good chop.

With enough ramification and root reduction you can get American elm leaves to about thumb-size....maybe a bit smaller.

 

[ShadyStump]

The good thing about elms is that they can be developed fairly quickly because they grow so quickly. They're also pretty much bulletproof. It'll be cockroaches and elm trees after the nuclear apocalypse.

A bit late in the season now, but if you can keep it growing strong next year, it's possible to get two or more trunk chops in a season with a sapling like this IF it's in really good health. Just don't take off all the foliage each time you do it or it won't have the wherewithal to build strong roots.
Now, you only want to do that if you're using the chops to get back budding or to put movement in the trunk cut-and-grow style. If you're only building taper, you'll chop it once a season so it has all summer to put on some girth, then cut back to a low branch that will then become the new apex.

 

[penumbra]

With enough ramification and root reduction you can get American elm leaves to about thumb-size....maybe a bit smaller.

I have some pretty big thumbs.

 

[BrianBay9]

I have some pretty big thumbs.

1 inch x 2 inches.....2.5 cm x 5 cm.

 

[penumbra]

1 inch x 2 inches.....2.5 cm x 5 cm.

Yeah, I do have big thumbs.
I know its going to reduce some eventually but right now I am just thickening it up a bit.

 

[DavidBoren]

Cool. Thanks for the replies.

I will wait until it establishes itself in this pot/soil a little bit before I mess with it, but I definitely plan on putting some good movement into the trunk down low.

 

[rockm]

I don't think this is an American elm. Leaf base lacks the "indent" on one side that's typical for A. elms and the leaf stems look a bit too long. Might be another elm species, also might be something completely different, like a red alder.

 

[penumbra]

I am not familiar with the elms of the PNW, but the buds look like elm.

 

[Matte91]

I dont think its a elm.

 

[ShadyStump]

Ulmus Americana's native range tends to be more easterly on the continent, but they've been planted throughout the temperate zones of North America, and there are other native elm species as well.

That said, yeah I'm not so sure it's an American elm. The leaf shape isn't quite right.

 

[rockm]

Ulmus Americana's native range tends to be more easterly on the continent, but they've been planted throughout the temperate zones of North America, and there are other native elm species as well.

That said, yeah I'm not so sure it's an American elm. The leaf shape isn't quite right.

Ulmus Americana is native almost exclusively East of the Mississippi. Might seed in introduced areas in more Western areas, but other species of trees are much more common and likely in Oregon.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Not an elm, and probably a bush. I'm looking...

 

[DavidBoren]

Is there anything I could take pictures of to help properly identify it? Better pictures of the leaves, or close up of the trunk?

 

[markyscott]

I’m guessing sweet cherry.

- s

 

[ShadyStump]

Both might help, though without mature bark the trunk pic might be of limited value.

LeafSnap is all over the place with the one leaf pic, but mostly suggesting prunus, as @markyscott mentioned, but a couple ulmus mixed in there.

 

[M. Frary]

I'm guessing foemina.

 

[Mikecheck123]

also might be something completely different, like a red alder.

I think it is a red alder given the rounded serrations and geographic location.

 

[DavidBoren]

All the leaves have these red, hairy clusters at the base of the stem. And all the leaves have a pair of redish dots on opposing sides of the stem, at the base of the leaf. It that helps...