Tree/Shrub Identification??

IowaBonsai

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I for the life of me cannot figure out what this is? Tree identification is not my strong suit right now. It was under a crabapple tree before I moved it.. no idea. Thanks for the help.
ash?.jpg plant id?.jpg
 

penumbra

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I concur with ash. We have hundreds of small ones and many large ones that have succumbed to the ash borer. To me it is not a good bonsai candidate with its large coarse compound leaves.
 

TN_Jim

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Green ash will often have around 5-7 leaflets, white more.

Doesn’t look like blue, or mountain ash.

That things got some toothed margins, mostly just see them slightly serrated here.
 

rockm

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That looks like a crabapple to me... Those "compound" leaves look to me like apple leaves on strong shoots...crabapple leaves are serrated...
 

penumbra

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in general, agreed.
I have however seen a few very nice medium sized ones. Leaves reduce A LOT under proper bonsai care.
That is good to know as I have literally thousands of them on my acreage. I have half a dozen in pots I dug while dormant when I didn't know what they were. All have grown vigorously. I almost dumped them out this morning but they have interesting trunks so I did not. Perhaps there is a bonsai hiding in there somewhere.
 

cbroad

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@IowaBonsai
Looks like it could be a type of Hickory to me but Ash is also a good guess.

In my area, we have tons of mockernut hickory, I pull saplings all of the time; they are pretty weedy trees here.

In your picture, the terminal leaflet is more rounded than the ones below it, which is very common on hickories around me.
 

IowaBonsai

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Thanks for the input, all. Probably not suitable for bonsai I take it then?
 

TN_Jim

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@IowaBonsai
Looks like it could be a type of Hickory to me but Ash is also a good guess.

In my area, we have tons of mockernut hickory, I pull saplings all of the time; they are pretty weedy trees here.

In your picture, the terminal leaflet is more rounded than the ones below it, which is very common on hickories around me.
I thought the same. Hickory has alternate leaves, ash opposite -looks opposite in photo but hard to tell
 

Shibui

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I've seen some very nice ash bonsai. They are generally defoliated a few weeks before exhibition and shown with new leaves just emerging. fantastic color and, if the timing is right, scale of leaves is perfect.
 

0soyoung

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Those leaves don't look compound to me.
Alternate leaves, but with one at the tip = tip off that it is a compound leaf.

One can easily verify this by looking for axillary buds - there is an axillary bud at the base of the petiole of a true leaf.
Probably not suitable for bonsai I take it then?
Probably not, but you can have some fun nonetheless.
Wysteria, for example, has compound leaves. One can cut away all but a leaflet pair and a new shoot will emerge in a few weeks time. Sometimes this will make them bloom a second time in the same season.
Zanthoxylum piperitum (Japanese pepper tree) also has compound leaves that can be treated simply as 'select-a-size' leaves and used to tune growth strength in one part of the tree versus the others --> not really any different that cutting maple leaves in half that is commonly done to get light to the interior of the tree.
I've been messing with little mountain ash (rowan / sorbus americana) in small pots, Kept small the compound leaves tend to stay small(er) and they seem to work as 'select-a-size' leaves, but they nontheless tend to just look like miniature palm trees. I'm not bored with them yet.
I potted a few walnut trees that sprouted in my yard (thanks to the neighborhood squirrels!). The most interesting thing about them was that one can make a sub-inch tall tree, but the leaves don't scale --> kinda funny to have a tree smaller than one leaflet of its compound leaf 🤣
Brazilian rain tree (BRT) is a very popular bonsai subject that I haven't played with, but it too has compound leaves.
And, if you get into compound leaves, there are even maples with compound leaves.
IOW it could become a specialty and you could become famous. But probably not. The point, though, is to have fun wasting time in whatever ways you choose to waste it! 🙃
 
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