On 1/15/2017 7:32 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Dan Espen wrote:
"Terry Coombs" writes:

Amos Nomore wrote:
On 2017-01-15 22:39:30 +0000, David E. Ross said:

Location: Southern California, Sunset zone 21, US Department of
Agriculture zone 10b

Photo: http://www.rossde.com/test/Lindas_tree.jpg

My friend asked me to help her identify this tree. It is growing
at the house she recently bought. Note the clusters of small
purple berries. It does not look familiar to me. Is it familiar
to anyone else?

It looks like an elderberry.

It's definitely not an elderberry . Tree is way too big , and the
berry clusters are the wrong shape .

One look and I thought elderberry.
Mainly from the distinctive fruit.

I haven't seen one in more than 50 years.
We had a stand of bushes, so they didn't look like that
tree, but I just checked Wikipedia and they cite trees 15 meters
(or 49 ft.) tall. The leaf shape matches.
So I'd still guess elderberry. In this case in tree form
possibly because it's in California.

The elderberries I'm familiar with are only around 10 feet tall max and
the fruit is different - here's a link .
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/elderberry.aspx


Sunset's "Western Garden Book" says that the blue elderberry (Sambucus
mexicana, aka S. caerulea) grows 10-30 feet tall and 8-20 feet wide.
This species is the only elderberry (with one exception) that can take
the summer heat of southern California away from the coast. The
exception is a variety of the red elderberry (S. racemosa racemosa, aka
S. callicarpa), which has berries that ripen bright red.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

When the President of the United States makes a statement of
national importance, I want to see his face as he is talking.
At the least, I want to hear his voice.

Donald: Stop tweeting. Otherwise, how do we know the message
really comes from you?