There's the problem of Buckeye having 5 leaves but it appears some may have 7, and the problem of a new stem coming directly from the ground. If someone has planted them this year as already growing plants then the old stem would have to be buried underground, the biggest one is simply too big to have grown this year from a conker.

That is why I think it's from the stump. But if you look at the images on google images, it looks almost exactly the same.


The winner:

So you haven't taken in that the tree was found on google street, and it in no way looks like Aesculus?

I have but these look pretty identical to me. Hence despite what you have explained, I have to go with Aesculus from stump.

The "Western Buckeye" is apparently Aesculus glabra var. arguta and seems a surprising tree to be deliberately planted there by the city at the end of a line of ash trees. I wonder if it's possible that someone had some seedling Aesculus, whether horse chestnut or other species, from their private garden and decided to plant them there to find them a home. The only hang-up with that is that one of the shoots is coming up through the mesh, although elsewhere the mesh appears to have been pulled back.

The tree on Google does not appear to be an Aesculus but whatever the origin it's the ID that you were looking for so whether they're attached or not doesn't really matter.

JRsbugs said:They removed the others with green spots Sue, maybe the red dot means it's in danger? Or that they have treated it so it needs to be watched?

According to this article, a red medallion indeed means it was treated for EAB.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicag...

Nope, I don't believe any of it. The articles are all wrong. These are all surely Buckeye trees!

Watch for green medallions on those Buckeye trees.

JRsbugs said:We still can't say for sure, but I can say that it hasn't grown from the tree stump.

And the rationale was.... that a sprout is not originating from right next to the old stump?

Sorry, I must have missed something. How do you know?

Leftwood said:

And the rationale was.... that a sprout is not originating from right next to the old stump?

Sorry, I must have missed something. How do you know?

JRsbugs said:This is the best I can do for the dead tree 1 in leaf in May 2012

Practicing Janet's Google technique (seemingly only works on desktop which is why I couldn't see it on the iPad), I got the tree back to September 2007.

That was in September 2007, the leaves looked like they were dying off then but it was healthy in May 2012 so it might have been due to a dry hot season.

Google street is brilliant, it's not long since they put the historical views on google maps.

How do you take a snapshot Sue? I use the snipping tool which can be found in the accessories of the start menu, I pinned it to the bottom tool bar (use a right click to do that). Click on the snipping tool, it brings up a red line around the whole screen shot. Then close the page using the cross top right, then go to file and choose "save as" where you can put it in any place you wish in your photos.

One odd thing I noticed is that in April 2012, a month before the leafing out May picture, it had no leaves. Given that the Gleditsia next to it was leafing out, and they tend to be late, I thought that was a bit strange. From some angles/years it is possible to see a fairly bad crack in the trunk.

I had to practice doing the snapshot - I used to do it easily with Paint Shop Pro (old version), just do a screen capture and then crop. The newer Corel version (old PSP doesn't work on Windows 7 where I stubbornly remain!) doesn't seem as user friendly so I hardly use it and failed this time around, so for this I then tried the free Irfanview software. I did a screen capture then selected the tree, did one "sharpen" which didn't help a whole lot, and then did a "Save As". It's the first time I've tried this with Irfanview and it was quite easy to do but I'll look for the snipping tool you mentioned, I wasn't aware of that.

I still have Windows 7 too! MS keep trying to get people to upgrade to Windows 10, it's free until end of July but very few people like it and still prefer Windows 7, it's riddled with problems.

I first thought the April 2012 shot showed the tree dead! It does seem odd to be so late, unless it was the beginning of April.

Another trick for getting closer shots is to use the magnifier before taking a snip. You can do that from the small cog top right or next to the star favourites symbol, open "zoom 100%" and you can change it but don't forget to change it back for that tab. I also use PhotoRazor to enlarge photos, it's brilliant.

I thought the April 2012 was dead too until it apparently sprung into life in the May picture! But Gleditsia are so late here I'm not sure what that signifies since the adjacent one is fairly advanced. I just went out and looked at an ash near the house and it has the first leaves showing and is green from a distance while the Gleditsia still has only buds.

I turned off Windows automatic updates to stop it from downloading Win10. I think it still tried to sneak it in with the last manual update but I unchecked it. Thanks for the other suggestions, and I'll check out PhotoRazor.

He's (she?/it) still growing.

Curiouser and curiouser!

I checked the September 2013 street view to see if any wire was visible around the dead tree. Look carefully to the left of the trunk, there is some patterning which suggests it was.



I had wondered if someone had put a plant in the ground and cut it back, but there was wire around the cut stump in August 2014. The tree must have been cut back some time between September 2013 and August 2014.



Look back at the first photo posted, there was wire all the way around with some soil covering part of it but it was in two pieces so the wire could have been lifted and replaced. The wire would stop squirrels planting seeds. I wonder if seeds were put in at the time of cutting back, but there's nothing showing in November 2015 or any time before that unless new growth had been broken or cut off to the ground.

http://garden.org/pics/2016-04...

All references point to Aesculus glabra var. arguta having 5-7 leaves, some more. A. glabra only has 5 leaves.

https://books.google.co.uk/boo...

Photos and info on other species ..

https://books.google.co.uk/boo...

Under 'Genetics' hybrids mentioned:

https://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/...

All sources mention a fetid, rank or putrid smell when crushing the leaves, have you tried doing this?

I'm surprised the stem is still standing up in your pot!

The leaves look to be quite hairy on the upper surface, descriptions I have read state the upper surface of Aesculus glabra are 'glabrous' meaning without hairs or down, although the following site mentions "glabrous at maturity"

http://landscapeplants.oregons...

http://www.projectnoah.org/spo...

Shrub or small tree to 5 m (15 ft) tall. Twigs thick, red-brown, hairy when young, with large triangular leaf scars. Bark smooth, light gray, becoming rough and scaly on older stems

http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/sh...

The bark on the dead tree is smooth and light grey, but the leaves don't look to match at all even though the image isn't a hundred percent clear.

Please try crushing a leaf to see if it stinks!

I've tried to imagine the leaves on the May 2012 image being palmate, as the leaflets are said to be 6-13 cm (2.5-5 in) long. The red ringed leaves to the top left almost fit palmate. The lower ring doesn't seem to. Another point is they make flower buds at the same time as the leaves are opening, this photo doesn't show anything which resembles flower buds and they do appear to flower at a young age.



The winter twigs on a young tree 'might' fit this tree ..

https://www.google.co.uk/searc...

The split in the bark in October 2012 ....



Twigs in October 2012 ..

There's something green near the base in the split bark picture of October 2012. Impossible to tell if it's related to the tree or a weed.

The fall 2007 leaves are even more indistinct than the spring leafed picture but suggest perhaps that they might be somewhat small in the spring picture because they were not fully emerged.

JRsbugs said:I also had wondered about the white spots appearing on the stems, they weren't there in the first photos. Are they lenticels or something else?

It looks like something bursting from under the skin. If my plant ever grows again I will take a good look at the stems.



What I find strange, is how did anything get planted in that spot? There's wire mesh around the trunk in a circle, but half of it has been cut off. The larger plant is in the wire free side, with a smaller one next to the tree stub. It looks like someone planted them there this year.

http://garden.org/pics/2016-05...

In August 2015 there was nothing other than the stump!

Look at the August 2015 shot, in the 7-8 o'clock position. There could be something there!

I rotated one of the current pics so it's nearly the same position, the growth isn't quite in the same place.



Could you get another clear shot of the side view Junker? Your last one isn't clear.

Leaflets 5-11, almost sessile,

http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/sh...

Sessile:

attached directly by its base without a stalk or peduncle

https://www.google.co.uk/searc...

That's one thing which has been bugging me. These leaves are attached to the base with no stalk.

Check it out ..

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ld...

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ld...

An article on the rootability of stem cuttings of Aesculus sp.

http://www.hriresearch.org/doc...