Can anyone help identify this tree? I've tried everything and am stumped. I think it might be some kind of Linden or Basswood tree, or maybe Cottonwood - but it lacks some key features. But those are the closest I've found. It's important because we are moving soon, and this tree is located inside the area where I want to put the chicken run. I need to be sure the berries or nuts(?) from it won't be poisonous to the chickens. Details and photos follow below. Bear with me, as I don't know all the proper terminology but I'll be as descriptive as I can.
We are in west central Missouri. The tree is located on a slope, in soil that's pretty high in clay and some rocks, so not very fertile. It is downslope from where the old septic tank used to be, so there may have been some moisture and nutrients from that.
It's a big tree, maybe twice as tall as the house (1-story), and about half as wide as it is tall. It seems to be vase-shaped with several 'trunks', but that may be due to poor maintenance and suckers having freedom to do as they please. Those 'trunks' range in size from about 6" to 14" in diameter. Bark is dark gray, rough and furrowed.
Leaves are about 2-1/2" wide, and just as long. They a medium green color, smooth, vaguely heart-shaped, with tiny saw teeth around the edges, and edges are somewhat wavy. The "petiole"(?) is not flattened. Leaves are a slightly lighter green underneath, but I saw no tiny hairs or fuzz anywhere top or bottom. Veins are alternately branched, and curve along the edges of the leaf. There are 3-5 leaves sprouting from the end of a stem or twig. There is a tiny 'bud' in the center of the end of the stem or twig, that's rough or fuzzy looking.
Twigs alternate along the length of a branch, and the branches are not straight. It sort-of zig-zags along the length, with small buds at each angle. The tree limbs appear to be mostly straight, though, reaching for the sky. I took a photo of a cross-section cut of one pencil-sized twig. It is not hollow or chambered, but solid pithy in the center.
I can't tell you anything about flowers, as I did not see the tree in time. It has bunches of little "berries" or "nuts" all over it, though. They are bunched like miniature cherries, with several berries hanging from their individual stems, from one single juncture. Now, at the first of July, they are about pea-sized, deep olive green, not fuzzy that I can see. I sliced one in half and took a photo of the cross-section.
Key point: I did NOT see any long slender 'sheaves' or casings hanging along with the berries or nuts. Just the leaves, and the berries. That's it.
Here are my photos. The leaf below was photographed several days after being cut, so it's starting to turn brown - and the berries were NOT wrinkled like in the photo, when they were fresh cut. Sorry about that.
Any suggestions you may have will be appreciated.
We are in west central Missouri. The tree is located on a slope, in soil that's pretty high in clay and some rocks, so not very fertile. It is downslope from where the old septic tank used to be, so there may have been some moisture and nutrients from that.
It's a big tree, maybe twice as tall as the house (1-story), and about half as wide as it is tall. It seems to be vase-shaped with several 'trunks', but that may be due to poor maintenance and suckers having freedom to do as they please. Those 'trunks' range in size from about 6" to 14" in diameter. Bark is dark gray, rough and furrowed.
Leaves are about 2-1/2" wide, and just as long. They a medium green color, smooth, vaguely heart-shaped, with tiny saw teeth around the edges, and edges are somewhat wavy. The "petiole"(?) is not flattened. Leaves are a slightly lighter green underneath, but I saw no tiny hairs or fuzz anywhere top or bottom. Veins are alternately branched, and curve along the edges of the leaf. There are 3-5 leaves sprouting from the end of a stem or twig. There is a tiny 'bud' in the center of the end of the stem or twig, that's rough or fuzzy looking.
Twigs alternate along the length of a branch, and the branches are not straight. It sort-of zig-zags along the length, with small buds at each angle. The tree limbs appear to be mostly straight, though, reaching for the sky. I took a photo of a cross-section cut of one pencil-sized twig. It is not hollow or chambered, but solid pithy in the center.
I can't tell you anything about flowers, as I did not see the tree in time. It has bunches of little "berries" or "nuts" all over it, though. They are bunched like miniature cherries, with several berries hanging from their individual stems, from one single juncture. Now, at the first of July, they are about pea-sized, deep olive green, not fuzzy that I can see. I sliced one in half and took a photo of the cross-section.
Key point: I did NOT see any long slender 'sheaves' or casings hanging along with the berries or nuts. Just the leaves, and the berries. That's it.
Here are my photos. The leaf below was photographed several days after being cut, so it's starting to turn brown - and the berries were NOT wrinkled like in the photo, when they were fresh cut. Sorry about that.
Any suggestions you may have will be appreciated.
