Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2008

The leaf pictures were the best you provided but don't show enough detail
for me to make more than the most tentative guess. That guess would be
Ashleaf Maple a.k.a. Box Elder. This is a common tree which grows all over
North America.

A good close image of the point where the opposite leaves meet the twigs
would be more definitive. How many leaves are there on each stem? Most
often this species has 5 but anything from 3 to 7 is within the realm of
possibility. The leaves are variable in shape. I'd say that the bark
picture and the silhouette you provided are within the range I remember.

Box Elder is a favorite of many woodturners because the wood is easy to
work and it often shows a wild coloration which looks to me like someone
smeared raspberry jam all over the basically cream-colored base wood. If
the tree does die and if it has been identified as Box Elder, please get in
touch with your local woodturning club as soon as you can -- they will
thank you for it!

agnacian@gmail.com said:

I agree with John, it looks like a box elder (Acer negundo).  Usually
considered to be a short-lived tree (although there are some
exceptional specimens that are quite old).

Website with pictures of identification features for box elder:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/forestry/trees/box/tabid/5342/Default.aspx

Diseases of box elders (scroll down):
http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/Texlab/Trees/tree1.html