can someone ident my tree for me???

Could someone plesae confirm the identlty of a tree for me. I have attatched a photo. My appologies for the quality of it. I was wondering if it is some sort of willow (maybe purple). The bark is smooth without any distiguishing marks. It is still very much in leaf.
Any suggestions would be welcomed
Thanks
Richy

 

Hi Marley Farley
thanks for your reply. Stupidly I didn't take a picture of the tree as I thought initally that I knew what it was. A Bay Willow. I now am certain that it is not this.
The height of it is approximately 3-4m with a dbh of around 30-40cms.
It is really close to the neighbours house and my clients were told to keep hard pruning the top so that it would focus more attention on top growth rather than root growth. Don't know if this is a load of nonsense or not. We want to remove the tree but they have been told this may lead to subsidence of the neighbours house once the roots start to rot. ?????????

 

I must say the pic is not a lot to go on.
Its difficult to acertain whether is a stem with opposite leaves or a pinnate leaf stalk.

If its likely that the house will subside if the roots rot, surely it would be better removed rather than left, because things will only get worse.

 

I agree with you Pete. The problem I have is that a Surveyor told them the roots could cause damage (10 YEARS AGO!!!) However a tree surgeon told them it would be fine.
So they are worrying about it. I have been doing a bit more searching on the web and have come across a salix osier. The leaf looks strikingly similar. The good news is that they have accepted my quote for all the other work. So I'll be back there tomorrow to iron out a few details and take some pictures of the tree.
I'm a hard landscaper and certainly no tree surgeon but I'm pretty sure it isn't a salix alba because the leaf is compound and not alternate. Anyway a massive thanks to you both for your speedy replies. I'll post some better pictures on tomorrow.

 

I wasn't aware that any willow had compound leaves.

But surely the main problem is not to ID the tree but decide if its OK to remove it.

 

Aren't the leaves a bit to glossy/waxy for Willow?

 

If the picture was taken recently then its an evergreen and therefore not a willow as far as I know.

 

Not necessarily. We're having fairly mild weather so far, unusually so for this time of year. Around here many trees still have a lot of their leaves.

I still don't think it's willow though. The leaves look far more glossy/waxy than any willow I've seen.

 

Hi all. I have some decent pictures of the mystery tree.
A mate of mine seems to think it may be a PTEROCARYA fraxinifolia or wing nut tree. But he was looking at the snaps via the lcd screen on the back of my camera.

As for the tree surgeon and surveyor. It was my client that dealt with these people at some point between now and 15 years ago. I (perhaps foolishly) was quite prepared to remove the tree and didn't think of any potential consequences of this action.

Having spoken to them again. I now am a little concerned that they want something in writing to say that removing it would not cause damage. I, as someone stated in an earlier post, think it needs to come out. Who would plant a tree that close to a building??? However I think I will let my clients arrange this with the relevant people.
For my own curiosity would love confirm the species.
Thanks again for all your replies.
Richy

 

Looks like Ailanthus to me, or just possibly Black walnut, but thats not likely.

Either way its far to near the house and needs to go.