Tree Id HELP

[Hartinez]

I’ll bet this is it: Boxelder, Acer negundo. It has opposite leaves, serrated, with variable shape. They grew along the Santa Fe River near my school when I was a kid. We had millions of Boxelder bugs!
View attachment 245974

But they are not compound. There is a dormant bud at the base of each leaf. ?

 

[atlarsenal]

Boxelder’s trunk will stay green and all of the terminal leaves look very much like poison ivy.

 

[just.wing.it]

Boxelder’s trunk will stay green and all of the terminal leaves look very much like poison ivy.

Indeed, I once was confused about that.

 

[Hartinez]

It’s settled. Arizona ash. New leaves are compounding. A part of me was hoping it wasn’t an ash. Well, we’ll see what I can make of this group. The main trunk has the size to be convincing over time. I’ll create a new thread for it at some point. @PiñonJ and @Leo in N E Illinois thanks for the help!!

 

[PiñonJ]

Not wanting to bust your bubble, but those aren't ash leaves. Ash leaflets are more elliptical and much more leathery. Also, the distribution of Fraxinus velutina does not extend very far into New Mexico.

 

[Hartinez]

I also saw that range map, but I’ve got a local club buddy who dug an ash from the Bosque in Abq. When I first dug the tree I checked this site, and thought it was velvet ash from the get go. The single opposing leaves threw me off though. I’ve also personally seen Arizona ash growing in the Bosque and when I talked with my buddy, he had said his ash produced single, non compound leaves after heavy pruning.

Here’s a pic of another ash growing near by where this one was dug. The bark was the same but the leaves were initially different. Until now that is. I’m mostly certain, but time will still tell.

Not wanting to bust your bubble, but those aren't ash leaves. Ash leaflets are more elliptical and much more leathery. Also, the distribution of Fraxinus velutina does not extend very far into New Mexico.
View attachment 247444View attachment 247445

 

[Hartinez]

In all honesty, I don’t want it to be an ash! so I hope your right!!

 

[PiñonJ]

In all honesty, I don’t want it to be an ash! so I hope your right!!

No worries, then, 'cause it's definitely not ash! Those leaves in your last pic are the right shape, they just haven't hardened off yet. Compare them to your tree. The form is totally different (again, much more elliptical). Plus, the distribution maps don't lie. It's not an invasive, so someone would have had to plant it there. Have you checked with Aaron? He may be able to ID it.

 

[Hartinez]

No worries, then, 'cause it's definitely not ash! Those leaves in your last pic are the right shape, they just haven't hardened off yet. Compare them to your tree. The form is totally different (again, much more elliptical). Plus, the distribution maps don't lie. It's not an invasive, so someone would have had to plant it there. Have you checked with Aaron? He may be able to ID it.

Aaron was the guy I was talking about and the first to call it an ash. He’s dug one from the Bosque here in Abq as well. Go to his post after he defoliators in this thread, https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/little-shohin-ash.23774/. The leaves turn much more elliptical when they first grow back.

 

[PiñonJ]

OK, not to beat a dead horse, but I'm not convinced Aaron's is ash, either! But, regardless, your leaves were never elliptical and they're not very leathery now that they've hardened off. The first pic I posted was from the Wikipedia article on Fraxinus velutina. Those are mature ash leaves and are consistent with landscape ashes I've seen, including one that my dad grew from whips given to me by a lady who called it "desert ash." I think it was an Arizona ash. I hope yours develops fruiting bodies. That will make identification much easier. The mystery deepens!

P.S. I'm quite happy to be proven wrong!

 

[Hartinez]

OK, not to beat a dead horse, but I'm not convinced Aaron's is ash, either! But, regardless, your leaves were never elliptical and they're not very leathery now that they've hardened off. The first pic I posted was from the Wikipedia article on Fraxinus velutina. Those are mature ash leaves and are consistent with landscape ashes I've seen, including one that my dad grew from whips given to me by a lady who called it "desert ash." I think it was an Arizona ash. I hope yours develops fruiting bodies. That will make identification much easier. The mystery deepens!

P.S. I'm quite happy to be proven wrong!

Well, I about convinced myself I had a river alder! Which would have been cool. None the less, I think I can make something cool of this group long term.

 

[AJL]

View attachment 245929View attachment 245930

This looks a lot like some species of Prunus- It has opposite serrated,leaves with the right shape and the bark looks similar- Im in England so sorry I dont know which your local Prunus species are

View attachment 245929View attachment 245930

l

 

[Gsquared]

Can someone please help me identify my bonsai... I have tried online everywhere.

I think that is an arailia. Often sold as indoor bonsai. Though I think it is more of a wood herbaceous plant than a tree per se.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

This looks a lot like some species of Prunus- It has opposite serrated,leaves with the right shape and the bark looks similar- Im in England so sorry I dont know which your local Prunus species are

Prunus, Pyrus, and Malus all have an alternate leaf pattern, NOT OPPOSITE. The alternate leaf pattern is pretty much uniform (very rare exceptions) through the entire Rose family.

There are odd groups where alternate and opposite species exist in the same genus, for example Cornus, but by and large whether leaves are opposite or alternate, is a basic trait for identification keys. Usually one of the first questions in an identification key.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I'm having fun following this, I almost wanted to be a botanist, as in botanical taxonomy at one point in time, then I discovered how little you get paid for burying yourself in a herbarium for years at a time.

Many species of trees have both juvenile and mature or adult foliage, one we tend to be familiar with, Junipers, Pines will have juvenile foliage for a year or two before forming needles in bundles. This pattern also is common with Japanese maple cultivars, and a fair number of other plants. Something to keep in mind.

Distribution maps can be misleading if read as absolute, looking at maps of herp distribution in Michigan there were no reports of the snake (blue racer) I was looking at for my county. Yet the snake was there. Turns out, there had been no ''official reports'' recorded. The surveys and distribution maps are limited by the manpower of the survey crew or whether they accept sightings without a voucher specimen (dead plant or animal preserved) to be deposited in a herbarium or museum. Maps that accept reports without vouchers from amateurs can be wildly inaccurate, in terms inaccurate IDs distorting distributions, and ones with very strict record submission rules can wildly underestimate distributions because so few people are allowed submit reports. Statistical errors, inadequate date or faulty data. I'm pretty sure the USDA Plants database, from which the map that Wikipedia sourced the map from is fairly conservative in what submissions it will include in its distribution range maps.

@Hartinez - I checked your link. There is a quote that I think will nail it if your tree passes the test. Wait until leaves are fully hardened off, and only ''mature'' compound leaves, the trait "The leaves are 3 to 5 inches long and are covered in very small fiber like hairs on the backside and is rubbery on the front. "

Feel for the fine velvety hairs below and the rubbery smooth texture of the leaf upper surface. If your specimen has that trait on mature leaves that pretty much cinches the Fraxinus velutina ID.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

While the eastern north American ash trees have proven unsatisfactory as bonsai, this velvet ash, Fraxinus velutina might work out, especially as a medium to larger size bonsai. It tends to have smaller leaves than the eastern ash species. It is listed has having deeply ridged bark, which if this feature develops early, could be a bonsai feature. But you are in the dark waters of ''trees not often even tried for bonsai'' and whether it will be a complete failure like Catalpa species, or a qualified success like horse chestnuts or buckeyes, or a real genuine success like the Carpinus hornbeams remains to be seen. Another example, Tillia, the lindens and American basswood, most species have leaves just too large for decent bonsai, but the ''little leaf linden'' from Europe makes a very nice medium to larger size bonsai, much like a standard fruiting quince.

So I encourage you to keep working with it.