April 2, 2015…The tree is getting leaves. I’m hoping someone can ID it.
Does this look like an alder leaf? I’ve looked at dozens of alder leaves, but they look slightly different…wider, with less exaggerated serrations. Alder leaves are supposed to be egg-shaped.
This is what the back of the leaf looks like.
Are these the female flowers? I apologize for the blurriness of this photo, but it shows them as they are on the tree. The below photo is sharper.
I snipped the branch and took it home to get a sharper photo.
I don’t think this is a cottonwood even though the leaves are serrated, or a Balsam Poplar, or a Cascara Buckthorn, but I guess it still could be an Alder or even a birch.
You might think that I followed up on a decision to cut the ivy off this tree, but that’s not factual. After reading a comment by Steve Mitchell (in my last post) about the value of ivy growing on a tree, I hesitated.
The trimming was not done by myself, and at this time, I don’t know ‘who dun it.” The owners don’t know either.
Just for a point of reference, these fir trees across the street from the mystery tree have ivy growing up their trunks. They don’t seem to be in any danger of dying, so what I’ve read on several web sites about ivy not being a parasite might be true.
Gardening Know How says… “Alder trees (Alnus spp.) are often used in reforestation projects and to stabilize soil in wet areas, but you seldom see them in residential landscapes.”
I suppose this tree could have been started just from a bird dropping a seed, but I would really like to know what it is. Any ideas?
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
It’s not alder – the catkins of alder are reddish and as you say, the leaf shape is wrong. My best guess is silver birch.
Also, ivy rarely kills trees, usually only if they are old and damaged.
It turns out, you’re right about the birch, Jeff. Thanks. I’ll post pictures next month.
Have you ever tried using this tool from Arbor Day? http://www.arborday.org/trees/whattree/
I’ve successfully identified a few types of tree with it. Good luck figuring out your mystery!
Thanks, Julie. Yes, I was using that web site for tree identification, but I still couldn’t nail the ID because of the shape of the leaves. I knew I had made a wrong choice when I came up with different kinds of cottonwood. 🙂
Hey Julie, I think it is a Red Alder. Do a search for it and you can compare.
The dog in the picture is a Golden Retriever 🙂
Thanks, Eddy. Uh, I know what the dog is…because it’s mine. My wife and Bailey are impatiently waiting so they can get on with the morning walk. 🙂
I vote for Birch. Catkins aside, if you google “birch tree leaves” you’ll see many in the image results that look like yours.
Thanks, HB. I just looked at the birch tree leaves images…most of those leaves are more ‘squarish’ at the bottom of the leaf, but there was one called a ‘River Birch.’
The River Birch shows a ‘wedge shaped’ base which is very close to my leaf, but my leaf doesn’t have the double serrated edge that the River Birch has. Still that’s the closest that we’ve come to it.
I just checked some of the attributes of River Birch…“Develops a cinnamon-colored bark that curls and peels (once mature)” If you look at the trunk of this tree, you can see that the bark could be described as cinnamon. I’ll look again tomorrow to see if it’s peeling.
HB, You and Jeff Ollerton are right about it being a birch. I’m athinkin it’s a River Birch. I’ll lay my case out next month.