Here is a close-up of the sprouting leaves.

Now this is a true stumper.

Sprout may be from shrub growing among tree trunks.

I think that is a Euonymous shoot which is nothing to do with the tree stumps.

any way to then tell what kind of tree this was by the trunks? It was around 25 feet tall and over 20 years old when cut.

Bark kind of resembles acer rubrum but I am faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from certain. I would put my confidence around 5% lol!

We need better pics of the leaves on the ground if they belonged to the removed trees. I also think bboy is right, the green leaves you see there are possibley (likely IMO) from a vine or shrub buried in the mess, not a sucker from the trees themselves unless you have pics that say otherwise.

John

Could you at least tell us what area of the world the tree stump pics were taken?

Anyone know if there are any birches with bark like that? That might be a possible ID since they are often sold in clump form.

This post was edited by j0nd03 on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 15:49

The tree stump is in Northwest Louisiana.

Well it ain't a birch if its in NW Louisiana!

Are the leaves opposite or alternate? If opposite, then that leafy thing could be privet. And if it is privet, the cut stumps could have been privet as well. It can make a pretty darn large stump in time but those would be the largest privet trunks I've ever seen.

j0nd03 - is there some reason you don't agree the creeper is Euonymous?

If it helps, the tree looked a little like a crape myrtle in that the limbs would sag because they were so over grown.

It also bloomed with pinkish flowers.

I'm sorry for the crude descriptions, but trees/plants are not my strength.

Nope, no reason to think that in particular. It doesn't look like euonymus leaves to me, personally but I don't have much experience with them.

Privet is so unbelievably common down here, that would seem more likely IMO. Kind of hard (for me at least) to get a feel for what the green plant is since I can not even determine the leaf arrangement from the pic provided.

Google search 'pink crepe myrtle flowers' and let us know if they are a match.

Euonymus fruit are also pink but the flowers are white, blooming in the spring and are much smaller than crape myrtle which blooms in the summer. If the flowers were pink, it also rules out red maple and privet.

This post was edited by j0nd03 on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 16:58

pps - that sucker could definitely be a crape myrtle sucker. It will be nearly impossible to know which exact cultivar of crape myrtle it was if that is indeed the ID which seems likely at this point.

I say a Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria).

Here is a link that might be useful: Yaupon Holly ID

"that sucker could definitely be a crape myrtle sucker.?"

What sucker are you referring to?

The close up of the green growth the OP showed looked somewhat like crape growth on the computer I was on at the time. Now that I'm home it just looks like there is a vine growing all around the stumps and that is just vine shoot growing skyward.

Youpon holly is another good guess, TN tree man

On my street, pink flowers, multi trunk and a slight weeping habit might describe some redbuds. On a live tree the heart shaped leaves and seed pods make the ID easy enough.

I have not removed any large redbuds so I have not had the chance to watch their trunks decay.

If you cut it in the summer of 2013, it just might resprout from the base this spring and a positive ID could be made at that time.

I finally found a picture of part of the tree from 2012. Hope the images of the limbs can help clarify the tree.

This post was edited by danfront on Wed, Jan 15, 14 at 17:18

Another picture of the tree

Looks like TN Tree Man got it right. Youpon holly looks the most likely to me after seeing the new pics but I certainly can't say for sure that's it. Bark is right, alternate leaf arrangement is right, and the foliage appears to be right as well.

I don't think it's a Youpon Holly, the tree never produced any berries.

If it were a male tree, it wouldn't. It would still flower but the flowering is unremarkable and goes unnoticed quite easily as the flowers are very small.

It might be my imagination but is there a green creeper in the shadow at the base of the tree to the left?

If you are sure it had pink flowers, it is NOT youpon holly* meant to add that to my first reply

The bloom was white, not pink. I'm sorry for the memory lapse, had to ask wife and friends if they remembered and they all said white.

It's a male yaupon holly.

Thanks to all who helped!!