Hello! I want to thank anyone and everyone for reading this. Forgive me if this is the wrong forum but I hope you can help. This beautiful tree was cut down with a chainsaw by the landlord next door without permission from the owner. I was hoping someone could help identify what kind of tree it is and it has to be over 20 years old. He will be taken to
Court and the information would help so so much. Thank you!

A better photo with close ups of the foliage is needed to make an accurate ID.

Are there any fragments (leaves, twigs etc) left on the ground that you could photograph? Did it flower, if so can you describe the flowers? Unless someone recognizes it by its overall shape, as Mike says it will be difficult to identify without more detail.

sooby said: Are there any fragments (leaves, twigs etc) left on the ground that you could photograph? Did it flower, if so can you describe the flowers? Unless someone recognizes it by its overall shape, as Mike says it will be difficult to identify without more detail.

I want to thank you so much for replying. I apologize for the bad picture. I had a video that I took screenshots from. I HOPE these are better. It was a beautiful old tree. Here they are. I'm so sorry if I'm wasting anyone's time but you guys are great for attempting to help:) thank you.

Looking back at these make me sad
Old man next door did not ask permission as the tree was not on his side

As I recall from my working days, the general rule of thumb for improper cutting down of trees is treble damages. Once you can positively ID the tree, perhaps an arborist can give you an idea of value. Folks do some weird things...

It may ring a bell with someone familiar with trees that grow in your area, sometimes a "long distance" ID is possible but it would need closer details. Are the brown bits hanging down dead leaves?

If it ever flowered, do you recall what color the blooms were?

Is the stump still there? If so, you might be able to get an ID, approximate age, and general health of the tree from an examination of the stump. Did Paul Bunyon know this was not his tree? Did he think it was a danger? If he's been there a long time, perhaps he planted it back in the day and thought it was his to do with as he pleased (just throwing out ideas). Has anyone spoken with him? Seems that would be Step One.

Might have to pay a survey cmpany to find out exactly where the property line lies ... from the looks of the first photo, I wonder if the property line might be right down the middle between the walkways where the shrubs and tree are located.

plantladylin said:Might have to pay a survey cmpany to find out exactly where the property line lies ... from the looks of the first photo, I wonder if the property line might be right down the middle between the walkways where the shrubs and tree are located.

Yes you are correct! It is a long patch of grass that is split 50/50 between the two land owners. The tree was 80% on this side. Our landlord told us old Paul Bunyon over there asked permission a few years ago but was denied. Then the other morning we wake up and the tree was gone! I asked one of the guys who cut it down if they had a license to cut trees and he replied no

Bonehead said:Is the stump still there? If so, you might be able to get an ID, approximate age, and general health of the tree from an examination of the stump. Did Paul Bunyon know this was not his tree? Did he think it was a danger? If he's been there a long time, perhaps he planted it back in the day and thought it was his to do with as he pleased (just throwing out ideas). Has anyone spoken with him? Seems that would be Step One.

We did speak with him. He is 90 years old and very mean. We asked if he had permission and he yelled back saying "I don't need any permission!!!!" We replied saying yes he does because that tree was on our side. He then said that we were nobodies. We said it took away our shade. He then said "I don't give a hell about your shade!" Our landlord is ready to take him to court. I understand I'm coming with bad quality pictures, it just happened so suddenly I didn't have time to properly prepare the data . That's why I came here for help as you guys seem to be experts and sweet people

In LA, they are all eucalyptus.
I'd start there.



https://www.kcet.org/shows/los...

Thanks for the cool link!

Eucalyptus are evergreen - did this tree lose its leaves? Were these photos taken in the fall? Too bad you didn't run over and take a few close-ups of the carnage.

Can you describe the bark? If the stump is still there, maybe a photo of the stump close-up? Did you ever see flowers or seedpods?

Daisy, Enlarge the second photo, and you can kind of see the bark. I still can't say whether Eucalyptus , or not, but I'm not good with bark.

Will you all laugh if I say it reminds me of a live oak? That's why I was wondering if these are fall photos? Or the tree was dying anyway?

Have you tried asking some of the other neighbors in the are if the remember the tree having any blooms, berries, ect? Does this area have holly? The bark and the branches reminds me of holly. Are there any leaves around your property, like maybe tucked into some rocks, wedged between the siding/foundation, ect, that you can pull out and take a photo of? Usually when trees are cut, they leave leaves laying all over and they are work to clean up. There is bound to be some hiding in a nook somewhere nearby.

DaisyI said:Will you all laugh if I say it reminds me of a live oak? That's why I was wondering if these are fall photos? Or the tree was dying anyway?

I was wondering about fall photos too, or maybe it was suffering from the drought? There are brown things in the tree which I assume were dead leaves hanging on (I did ask about those above but don't recall an answer), there are detached leaves on the lawn (could have been from a different tree I guess), and it looks like some of the branches were missing leaves altogether. So my thought was either the tree had some kind of problem or it might have been a deciduous tree photographed in the fall.

Live Oaks do not lose leaves in the fall.