The plant/tree is about 4-5 ft tall and growing in a well watered area in the backyard. It appears to be a plant rather than a tree. The leaf structure is similar to Water Hemlock/Red Elderberry. I don't think it's Water Hemlock, but it may be related. The leaf stems are mostly solid red at the nodes diminishing towards the tip and most leaves are doubly compound at the main stem nodes. The main stem is ridged and has raised spots. The leaves are soft and hairy, similar to Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) and have whitish undersides.
Yes it does, but all the Sambucus racemosa specimens I've seen were mature plants with bark or had fruit/flowers. Also, I have never seen the double compound leaves on this species before, but I have seen them in Parsley family plants. It was those compound leaves that made me suspicious that it might be something else.
I went through my collection of Sambucus images and found few that show additional lobes on the proximal leaflets. This is one of them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/6425494531/ Probably, this is some environmental feature of young plants. Zoom into the spot:
Yes, I have the same additional lobes on the proximal leaflets. I went through my other Red Elder photos and didn't see that leaf structure on other plants. I also didn't find it by searching the Web. No sites I read through mentioned additional lobes as a possibility. Apparently, additional lobes and possibly other characteristics such as color pattern can vary due to the environment, plant age or other factors. Good to know. Thanks for your help. Perhaps finding a Red Elder (Sambucus racemosa) with additional lobes is like finding a 4-leaf clover?
