The foliage looks like some type of dogwood. Not sure which one.
hortster

Thanks Hortster, that's a surprise as the only dogwood I have is a red twig bailey, maybe a bird gifted it to my yard. Would the 90 degree angling of branches be characteristic of a dogwood too? I am quite unfamiliar with any species of dogwood except my red twig. Does anyone else know what species of dogwood this might be? Thanks!

Does anyone think this could be other than a dogwood? Do you need a picture of some other part of the plant to be able to tell? I would really like to know before this weekend so it can be transplanted (or removed). It doesn't look so good lately but it started off looking interesting. Should I post about it in a different forum. I think it's a tree or else a really spindly bush.
Thanks.

There are numerous dogwoods (Cornus spp.). Some are trees, some are shrubs, some are kind of in between. Compare the leaf to the leaf on your redtwig and you should see the foliage similarity. It may be difficult to determine the species unless it produces flowers or fruit to help with identification.
Anyway, if it is in your good shrubs you probably should remove it.
hortster

I don't believe it's a dogwood. The leaves are not quite opposite. Look at your first picture at the leaves on the branch on the right. It's not Cornus alternifolia, the only American species without opposite leaf arrangement.

Cornus leaf veins disappear before the leaf margin.

I think it could be a Rhamnus.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:343120}}

carol23, you could well be right! In my area there are few buckthorns to learn from and from which to judge. After viewing R. cathartica and R. frangula, could likely be! But, you must admit that the leaf is quite similar to the Cornus spp. Thanks for the knowledge. Appreciate. You can be in the world of horticuture for life and never stop learning. I might add, "learn daily."
hortster

Horster, nobody can learn it all! I enjoy the forums as I pick up knowledge and ID tips. It's a great hobby!

THanks hortster and Carol23for the help! I have been without power for a few days so didn't see your answers until now. I do have a buckthorn tall hedge that shows in some of the pictures. Is the other one a different species of buckthorn? How interesting. In many parts of the country, buckthorn tallhedge is an invasive; but, in my yard, the one I have is very well behaved (it's in the backyard). It looks like I have two little volunteers in the side yard where this picture was taken and I'll transplant them to the backyard and see if they like it there. In any case, the one I was trying to identify is pretty ugly and it's an ex-weed/whatever now. We had a bad storm this past Thursday and today, while cleaning up from it, I took a good look at the weed/whatever and removed it. I found another one in my front yard and it went to great beyond, with my help, as well.
Thanks again.

Barbara