TREES

Can anyone please tell me the name of a tree which suddenly sprouted up in my back garden a few years ago. I'll give as full a description as I can, but I can't photograph it as I no longer have the use of a camera.

It is now approximately 45/50ft tall. The trunk's girth is around 12", the branches are very thin and, now that spring has sprung, it's displaying tiny white flowers.

I've tried looking on the internet, but there appears to be nothing like it - in the UK anyway - but I could be missing something. I'd just like to be able to put a name to it.

Hi Mollie

Do you have a friend who has a smartphone or camera that could take a photo for us? The bark and the flower plus a shot of the whole tree? I have a friend with PhD in a related field that may be able to help.

Hi J3mbo:

Unfortunately, my back garden is in a terrible mess as I haven't been able to afford to pay someone to get rid of the weeds for the last couple of years.

I'll have to get my regular guy to get it done for me soon though, so I'll ask him to take a photo and send it to me by email. Problem is, I don't use Photobucket any longer, or any other site, so I've only got a description to give, but it is very tall, and very spindly. Sadly, it's not particularly pretty to look at.

It is a mystery though, because I moved back into the family house back in 1983, and nobody planted it there. It only started growing about 2/3 years ago, so where it came from is anybody's guess.

45/50ft tall in 3 years is pretty impressive!

Triffid?

Could be a Elder flower tree they grow very tall and very quickly.They grow with a thin trunk and very thin branches with either white or pink flowers

mollie m,
One of the fastest growing trees in England is the Alder, but the tree produces catkins and I have never seen one of these trees grow at a rate of 15ft per year.
I would also go with PeterP's suggestion (Elderflower or a type of Elder). Type in photographs of Elder trees or Sambucus and examine some of the details to see if any are the same as your tree.

By the way, your mystery of how it got there, isn't difficult to solve as berries are eaten by some birds and some small animals but the seeds aren't digested. These seeds, if swallowed, then are later excreted in their droppings and possibly some distance away.

J3mbo:

I don't think it's a triffid 'cos it might have eaten me before now. I'm not brilliant at guessing heights, but the top is way above my rooftop which is at approximately 30ft and, quite honestly, I don't really know when it started to grow as I only noticed it a few years ago.

Thank you Peter and Ian. I've looked at photos of Elder trees as suggested which, when in leaf, are very bushy, but this is spindly all the way to the top and the trunk is definitely much thinner and looks more fragile.

Ah well. I dunno. I might have my gardener chop it down next time he comes as it's a bit intrusive in that it's overshadowing one of my Buddleia's. If I ever find out what it is, I'll come back to let you know.

Thanks guys.

mollie m.,
It could be a type of cherry tree. I have some of these in one corner area of my garden. They are fast growing and can be "spindly" as they go for height rather than density. Also, the trunk slowly thickens as much of the energy is put into the height of the tree; this is possibly due to the tree being able to bend quite a lot without breaking + the distance between branches - and, also, the design of the leaf.
These are the basic details of my wild cherry trees: tall and slender, small white flowers in Spring, small red berries/cherries (which the birds love), slim trunk in comparison to the height, silverish grey-brown bark, quite rough bark which has rough rings (one-after-another) all up the trunk etc.
Check this out: Prunus avium
Also, you could check out Wild Cherry trees.

Good Luck!

Hi Ian:

I looked up the wild cherry tree and, now that there are more flowers on mine, I'd say that it is wild cherry. I've never seen any berries on it but, then again, I haven't been able to get out at the back for a while. Once my gardener has been and put it right again, I'll make a point of having a look. The article mentioned that it can grow up to 30 metres and last for up to 60 years!

Thanks again.