Compare to Acer Negundo (boxelder maple).

Agree w/Bill because of the silvery stem -- typical of boxelder.

My most unfavorite tree.

A real weed tree.

So this is one to remove -- should be easy enough.

Just cut the trunk off flush to the ground and daub the fresh cut end with undiluted (43%) glyphosate concentrate or triclopyr.

One of the few trees that grow here!

You're right, L Clark, it IS a tree to use as a windbreak on the challenging areas of the plains and moister sites in the high deserts. I notice in my area they're already losing their usual late summer drab yellow/brown leaves.

Yes indeed L Clark (zone 4 WY) if it were one of the few trees here I would embrace it. Location plays such a big part.

They grew out on my old place but only in the lower, moister, sometimes seasonally wet areas but even with the better soil in those areas, I could never find one that looked healthy.

Dead upper trunks, branches, hollow spots etc.

In my early days there, if they were in the way of other activities we were doing, we'd cut them down and let them lay for wildlife habitat. 100% of the time the insides looked sick with rotten spots and large red streaks throughout the trunk. And such a soft wood it was worthless for firewood.

I don't know why that type of tree didn't like growing here but even the ones I see here in town aren't uniformly healthy looking. The one I helped the neighbor across the street remove was no exception. A real weed tree.

Don’t forget the horrible box elder bugs.

Oh yea....gross when they descend in plague proportions on the back of the house trying to find places to overwinter... I broke down one year and bought as small shop bag that is designated as the "bug vac" because of it.

You all need to get over your prejudices. Which of you would be first to kick this out of their gardens?

And, there's an ENTIRE county in the western United States named for this underappreciated overperforming PIONEER species in North American environments. And possibly four towns (MT, WY, SD, TX).

https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/b/BOX_ELDER_COUNTY.shtml

https://ilovehistory.utah.gov/box-elder-county/

Your fru-fru exotic ornamentals should have such tough genes (jeans?)...and be of value to over 285 species of moths and butterflies.

https://www.urbanecologycenter.org/blog-posts/native-tree-spotlight-in-defense-of-box-elder

Best of all: it fools so many gardeners that do not look closely to see that its opposite compound foliage cannot be Poison Ivy.

Pretty cool, VV, for standing up for tough 'ol boxelder.

Question: Since typical green boxelder leaves turn dull yellow in early autumn, does a yellow boxelder do the opposite? :) :)

Not prejudice, they just don't grow good around here. ;-)

Wouldn't that stun you? To be glowing rich yellow all summer, and then transform to a glossy emerald green as days shortened, and drop as winter approach. There'd be those that bitched about that.

One could say that all the anthropomorphized maladies mentioned in this thread demonstrate all the unrecognized VALUE that Acer negundo is quietly providing.

See a songbird? Bless a Boxelder...

Here is a ‘Sensation’ boxelder. it suffered severe freeze damage four years ago but has since regrown pretty well, but with too many branches. New owners don’t water it so it’ll probably die eventually soon.

ages ago I trained as a landscaper in Germany, there was an aditional evening class about plants, the teacher was great. And he told us that after the wall came down, Acer negundo was the first plant to sprout on those "death strips" along the inner German border, covered in pure sand, sprayed heavily regularly so any foot prints of escaping folks who tried to flee to Western Germany across the border would be seen.

and after they stopped spraying, those cropped up first. IME it can take some draught and is a fierce pioneering species

Acer negundo are pretty tough.

Boxelder has one of the largest natural ranges of any N American tree and of course can grow far outside that.

Interesting, I believe the Sensation box elder was discovered in Idaho

Interesting discussion. I grew up in Todd County, MN - boxelder country. My mom still lives there has a tree on her property that I sometimes think might be a champion tree. It was already large in 1978 when my family bought the place. It has continued growing vigorously up to the present, it is hollow, but otherwise very healthy. The spread might be approaching 100'. It's not particularly tall, perhaps 50'. If anyone in MN is interested in measuring this tree, you can PM me.

@artinnaturez8b, it's also interesting that you mention that, for as I was traveling to a town in rural central PA, brother and I saw what was to us the biggest boxelder seen, in front of a house. It looked well cared for w/a huge trunk, and as you remark, a very wide but not particularly tall crown, and dwarfed the house. I also saw the largest silver maple ever beside a farmhouse, and I've seen some big ones. So it became Huge-Maple Day...

Old box elders are neat. There is a place in far eastern Wyoming in a riparian zone where old stands of boxelder get quite large. Low growing, with big sprawling branches touching the ground and shooting back up. Sort of like a live oak, maybe. Wild turkey are abundant in those stands of box elder

LClark, it may be, being rather weak-wooded, that boxelders tend to grow wide but not tall to lessen branch damage (perhaps even uprooting) from strong winds.

I've never seen it offered, but there is a variegated boxelder selection which some have mentioned, and looks to me, as quite attractive.

Referencing @bengz6westmd's distribution post, I think Woody Guthrie had a hidden meaning when he wrote and performed this (and which may just be what a Boxelder Maple's voice sounds like):

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters (and then some)
This land was made for you and me

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley (full of Acer negundo in fall color)
This land was made for you and me

I roamed and rambled, and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
All around me, a voice was sounding (that Acer negundo again)
This land was made for you and me

There was a big, high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said "Private Property"
But on the backside, it didn't say nothing (pic provided by @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK)
This land was made for you and me

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting (@ L Clark (zone 4 WY)'s tree, all the way)
This land was made for you and me

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters (Acer negundo, singing IT'S anthem)
This land was made for you and me

Thanks, VV, a wonderful song w/poetic lyrics. I'll give a bow to your interpretation.