Some sort of Hemlock? (Tsuga).

Needles seem too pointed for hemlock. More like juniper or cryptomeria.

tj

Pretty sure it's a juniper.

It would sure be nice to see some close ups of those needles and branch tips.

Maybe a dwarf spruce.

'instant bonsai' and ' common landscaping evergreen' say Juniper to me. We have no scale except the pot but the branches and needles look far smaller than anything else.

Possibly Erica genus? carnea?

more pictures. hope these are helpful. thanks again.

Yeah, needles arranged radially around the stems with apparently sterigmata attachments would give credibility to that idea. Can't quite tell if the needles are square from the picture but the overall look of the stems screams spruce to me.

needles are flat not round. i can take more pictures tomorrow

Please try to get a clear pic of the buds.

And put in something for scale.

Size

Back side

please let me know if more pics are needed. thanks

Bud

To me, that looks like a spruce of some species. Which, it's hard to tell.

Pointy buds say spruce also (Picea).

But if the needles are indeed flat and not 4 sided, I'm out of ideas with this one.

Can you put the camera on mode macro and get a focused close up of a needle or two?

eta: Or take a magnifying glass and give it a good look.

The only flat(ish) needled spruce readily available that I know is Picea mariana. Some things I see are right for that, but others are not.

tj

What about Picea glauca 'Conica' (Dwarf Alberta Spruce)? Isn't that a tailor-made dense little spruce that just wants to be a bonsai? Except when it reverts? Or gets infested with Spider Mites?

Well, I'm sorry rockdale.

Seeing the shape of a P. mariana (Black spruce) needle is not that easy.

Here's a picture of a branch tip I cut off mine (taken in mode macro). If you know what to look for, you can tell these are 'square' needles.

But to get a really clear closeup, I had to use a jeweler's glass and even then, the rounded corners of the needle made it difficult to make it out unless put under the right light.

Here's one taken in mode macro holding it with a sharply pointed tweezers.

So, I'm done. Let's just call it 'Spruce' of some variety. ;-)

Sorry for late response. trying to get my iphone works in macro mode but seems it did not work. anyway here are more pictures.

Thanks for supplying those pictures, Rockdale.

The first couple of those pictures sure look like spruce, they even have the pointy tips.

And they don't look fine enough or dense enough to be Dwarf Alberta spruce.

The bad news is, if this plant was a bonsai or dwarfed by growing in a too small pot, its appearance could be somewhat mutated. So, without a mature cone it's almost impossible to tell what the species is.

Someone else might chime in, that's had experience with this certain cultivar and may be able to visually identify it just because they've seen it before.

pull back until its in focus.. and then crop the picture.. so its in focus.. trust me.. you will have enough pixels to crop the bejesus out of it...

you cant focus when your phone is too close to the subject...

also.. put in something for a scale.. like a lighter or some such. and then the camera can focus on that... and all of a sudden the sprig is in focus also.. or a pen cap ... anything,.. dome... penny .. etc....

its a brilliant specimen for bonsai.. regardless of what it is... find a bonsai club.. and join it.. and see what to do with it.. REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS.. it simply doesnt matter.. in regard to bonsai...ld hav3

there used to be a bonsai forum... but god knows if its still active...

imo.. its an eye poking picea of some sort [dont ask about the eye poking paert..lol ]....... but its so stressed... probably from being in that pot about 5 years too long.. that its hard to ID....

i would probably repot it in the appropriate season.. and i dont know when that is for RI ... and then prune the F*** out of in spring... and see what happen... and since i would do it in spring.. i would have all winter to find that local bonsai club.. for guidance...

good luck. and have fun with it...

if you repot.. never forget the potting media is the most important thing in the pot.. even more important than the tree... tree media is wildly different than annual or perennial medias.. and most of us.. say its never MGrow ....

God i miss doing this.. but its so hard type on this POS laptop ...

google up some bonsai vids.. see if you find any inspiration ...

ken

Thank you all for the ideas. i think it is safe to go with spruce. at least i know now that spruce does not back bud on old wood so i have to be careful on pruning. also, my neighbor had this griwing in ground but it does nor do ver well - probably in too much shade so she dug it out and will throw it away. i washed its roots and just potted in the pot for now. Again, thanks