WTH kind is this

I got to get rid of it, don't know how much I can use very twisted, knotty, and funky but really curious - never saw one like this. Trunk is only about 3 feet high, looks like 4 of the same trees together.

Jap Maple

looks almost like a pot leaf
lol

Sweet Gum?

.
lol sould never forget how to id that one.

That is a japanese maple. They are prety common ornamental trees and sometimes spread into the woods. That is about as big as they ever get. Probably not a lot of people have burned much Japanese Maple because they are usually small and all branch, no trunk.

Definitely NOT a sweet gum. They are an absolutely useless tree in my opinion and I know what they look like. They drop these infernal (*%^$$) balls every winter and are all but impossible to get out of the yard. The wood is impossible to split by hand and very tough even with a splitter... No love lost here between me and sweet gum trees in case I didn't make that clear..

Liquidambar styraciflua Bastage of a tree. (Sweet gum) We have a winner!


http://www.bomengids.nl/pics/Amberboom__Liquidambar_styraciflua__Sweetgum@1@bladleaf@img_2952.jpg


Acer palmatum (jap maple) in one of it's many varieties

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Acer_palmatum_sango_kaku.jpg

My guess is somebody tried to cut the bastige down when it was a single trunk and it sent up suckers that eventually formed one solid mass.

Matt

LOL huge lack of landscapers here, that is positively a Japanese Maple.

There's a lot of variation in japanese maple leaves, from single lobes that look just like beech to many lobed that look more like pot leaves.
That tree has the spreading branches that is more characteristic of ornamental maple than sweet gum, although the leaves certainly do look like sweet gum.

With that huge split in the center I'm surprised it has never suffered from ice or heavy snow damage.

:lol: somethings you never forget alright,no matter how many yrs its been

Always amazes me when people plant trees directly under power lines.......

If thats a Jap maple, its 2 things:

1: The biggest one I've seen

2: Worth a stack of $20 bills as tall as the tree if you can dig it up.


My vote is sweet gum

sweetgum is usually tall, straight with spindly limbs and few knots. This tree is none of those things, and looks like an ornamental. Jap Maple FTW

also those power lines look more like low-running telephone and cable lines to me

Agreed.(about the Japanese maple part) The Japanese maples I have planted out front cost several hundred $ each and after 10 years they are about 1/100 that size.
Joe

I have seen people think that NOT The Case though....Sweet gum would have prickly balls all over that yard...Op Would not forget that..lol

Japanese maple, I have one in my front yard. Actually they burn pretty darn good, the wood is very dense and hard.

Ya I have two silver maples and had one BIG jap maple, and it had nearly the height of the other two in twice the lifespan, but was twice as broad before it died

Jap maple....parents have one bigger than that in their front yard......maybe 35 years old.

I with jlove on this. He's from my neck of the woods and we have plenty of sweet gums and this one in the picture is an ain't.. I've got one in my back yard that is 4-5 feet across at the base. Biggest one I've ever seen and if it weren't my main shade tree, I'd have it gone. Well maybe not because it would cost a fortune but I wish it were gone.

I dunno about Sweet Gums or Jap Maples, but I can definitely tell you what that thing is in pic 5. Around here those don't grow on trees though.