Almond tree is what I thought of also. You could always dump one of them out and look to see if there is an almond at the base.

Good idea. I may try that tomorrow.

While I do sometimes remove & nurture items found growing in the compost pile or experiment with growing grocery store "food”, I don't recall ever trying this with almonds. In fact, my understanding is that all almonds are pasteurized, thus sterile and that “the only sources of almonds that will sprout are either from the California farmer directly or bought online” to grow. So, I don't know where an almond could've come from …but possibly another member of the prunus family? I have, thus far unsuccessfully, attempted cherries, plums, peaches… as far as I know this doesn't really look like any of those either, does it?

there is an ornamental almond.. perhaps you rooted it???

paint pens on the side of black pots.. are a great way to mark them for a decade or so .... steel wool to remove ... they are sold at fabric/hobby stores ....

or even.. just a scratch all ....

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Prunus+glandulosa&t=ffcm&iax=1&ia=images

Well, you’re right; I have taken cuttings from similar looking trees —not knowing or caring at the time, whether they might be a decorative pear, cherry …or ornamental almond ..or whatever but I’ll not get my hopes up as I suspect it'll probably end up being something disappointing.
Paint pens- good idea. Thanks

I explored around the base and find no trace of a nut. It appears this was previously larger, died back and has now regrown multiple stems from the original “trunk”. Today I noticed a somewhat unique feature that might help narrow down the identification: a small leaflet from each of the “armpits”, where the main leaf attaches to the stem.

Any more thoughts on other possibilities? I'm having a hard time imagining how it could be an almond. I have tried other fruit pits: cherries plums etc but from what I've found this isn't a good match for any of those. I removed soil from the base and included a photo. maybe the texture, coloration of the bark might help. I didn't mention and you can't tell from the photos, the leaves attach directly to the main stems: there are no branches. I thought those little leaflets at the armpits would be a sure indicator .

Well, if no one else is going to answer my question, then I guess I will. ; )
For any who may be interested, I think I may’ve figured it out.

A couple years ago, I made an impulse purchase at a local discount store of several shrubs on sale. When one of these was mentioned in something I was recently reading, it occurred to me “Hey, I bought one of those. Whatever happened to it?” Putting two and two together, I think this may be it:

Sand Cherry, Prunus pumila L.

(Prunus pumila var. besseyi 'P011S' Pawnee Buttes?)