Can anyone ID this tree?

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by Nina Shoroplova, Jul 5, 2021.

  1. Nina Shoroplova

    Nina Shoroplova Member

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    Tree features: compound leaves with up to 9 leaflets growing in whorls; white flowers in umbel shape; tree was very tall (40 ft?) until it was cut down, after which it sprouted many leafy shoots and flowers. The flowers become red berries once pollinated. I had wondered about whether it was an Aralia cordata Sun King until I heard how tall it had grown. The three photos may help.
     

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  2. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

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    Hello - are these recent photos ?

    The plant is blooming now? (In West End Vanc)

    Can you see the trunk that was cut?

    It’ll be interesting to observe the fruit that result from flowers if any

    Is it some kind of ash, I wonder

    I bet @wcutler knows what it is.
     
  3. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    This couldn't be Sambucus, could it? I guess unlikely if it had grown to 40 feet but . . .
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2021
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  4. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    You can rule out Aralia, which have alternate leaves and a different inflorescence structure.

    Pl@ntNet identify (plantnet.org) thinks it's a Sambucus.
    @Nina Shoroplova, I wonder if you did not see the mature berries. According to the page at Sambucus - Species Groups (liquisearch.com), all the ones with with flowers in flat corymbs have berries that are black to glaucous blue; the red-fruited ones have flowers in rounded panicles and are smaller shrubs.

    Or maybe it's something else entirely. Is it in a private garden or in a park?
     
  5. Silver surfer

    Silver surfer Generous Contributor 10 Years

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  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Agree with Sambucus, but doesn't look quite right for S. nigra - perhaps more likely S. cerulea? That is native in the Vancouver area. Berries bloomed pale blue (purple-black if the pale blue wax rubs off) when mature, but reddish when unripe.
     
  7. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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  8. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Yellow leaves in elders can indicate poor soil conditions that elders don't greatly like (particularly dry, infertile, well-drained), it doesn't necessarily mean a cultivar. In Britain, a particularly common sight on railway ballast and coal mining spoil heaps.
     
  9. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    That is true but the tree @Nina Shoroplova posted looks very healthy. I doubt it would grow as tall as 40 feet if it were in poor soil.

    On the other hand, you might expect a yellow-leaved cultivar to have more uniformly yellow leaves, not just here and there.

     
  10. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

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    I think it’s the idea that it formerly grew 40 feet tall that’s throwing us off

    My first reaction (response) is elderberry then the former height cited is a puzzle as others have well noted already

    And those elderberry are known to grow fast around stumps of other species in one season to look like this one

    I wonder when the photos were taken

    And if the OP went back today - any berries and what do they look like
     
  11. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Common Elder only very rarely exceeds 8-10 metres, so 40 feet (about 13 m I think?) would be very unlikely. Blue-berried Elder gets that size much more regularly.
     
  12. Heidi C

    Heidi C New Member

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    Hello! I’m the original poster on Facebook. And huge thanks to Nina for getting this going!

    I’ll answer your questions.

    Yes the photos are recent.

    Yes it was blooming.

    Location: My neighbours backyard in New Westminster. She moved into this home in the spring of 2020 and is getting to know the garden. She did not know the name of the tree.

    It was really tall and causing a lot of shade in her yard so her husband topped it a lot. What you’re seeing are the new shoots growing off the main trunk. There was a main trunk with several smaller trunks
    Private garden in New Westminster
     
  13. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Do share a photo of the fruit as it develops.
     
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  14. Nina Shoroplova

    Nina Shoroplova Member

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    Hear, hear on sharing photos of the fruit.
     
  15. Heidi C

    Heidi C New Member

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    Will do! And the trunk/bark too. Thank you everyone!
     
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