NC Tree ID

[nclonghunter]

I just looked for sassafras bark images and I am now believing it is sassafras. Most of the leaves have fallen and I did not see any lobed leaves, but I still think you guys got it right....Thanks for the help

[Pat B]

Most of sassafras leaves are lobed so there should be plenty of them under the tree. Also if you crush fresh leaves they have a lemony smell. Sassafras not only has 3 leaf shapes but also three distinct smells; the leaves, the roots and the wood.

[Hillbilly]

I'm pretty familiar with most of the trees in NC, and I can't hang a name on that one from the pics. It's not sassafras. If I could see it in person or get a better close-up photo of the twigs and leaves, I might be able to tell you. The bark looks closest to black willow, mulberry, or eastern cottonwood, but the leaves from what I can see in the photo look like none of the above. It could also be a non-native escape.

[nclonghunter]

Hillbilly, the tree does not have any branches until high up and few leaves are remaing. None are lobed that I could see. It is a fairly straight tree but leaning some. I just looked at the bark of a Sourwood and its leaves which look close. Sourwoods I have seen have been darker bark, but I think it could be....

[Hillbilly]

Doesn't really look like a sourwood either. Their bark is more deeply grooved than shaggy, and the leaves are longer and narrower than the ones in the pic. Sourwoods still have this year's dead blooms/seeds on them now, too at the end of the twigs. How big are the leaves on this tree?