I bought a house in DeSoto 2 years ago which has these unusual, beautiful, tall trees and I would like to know what they are.

They are very fast growing (10 ft the first year from seed), have green bark, large (18 inches across) 3-lobed leaves, and some years become very heavy with large clusters of small blooms (they didn't last summer), and make seed pods 3-4 inches long with 4 chick-pea sized peas in them.

I thought they were wonderful shade trees as they had a high canopy, but then I discovered the reason for that was because they drop limbs very often - live or dead.

Try this Dichotomy Key: http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/key/key1.htm

It should help you to narrow the long list of choices for your tree. If possible can you also list the results on here to help us help you? A picture of a leaf would also be great!

Nina

Nice tool there, Nina. Thanks for posting it.

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Shepherd of the Trees
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

I tried to post a photo, but the Img button only enters the characters "[img]". How do I do it?

jcstrick1,

I had the same problem and Dave helped me figure this out-- it was the "Disable BBCode in this post"....look at your message box and if there is a check mark in that box, remove it. Hope this helps. - Susan

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"Life ain't in holding a good hand, but playing a good hand well." - William Smeathers