Rachel,

That one is very close. Especially the leaves which get brown
splotches within a few days of turning red.

The limbs however do not grow perpendicular to the trunk. Most major
limbs appear to be at less than 45%.

The link that maxsilverstar sent earlier
(http://www.cdr3.com/sourwood/) has a dead ringer for the shape. It
is the 7th picture from the top. Very gnarly and imperfect. Nothing
like any of the full round ornamental pics I've seen.

Thanks all for the help.

TD



"Rachel" wrote in message link.net...
wrote in message
...
On 10 Sep 2004 05:52:14 -0700, wrote:

* 50 feet tall
* bark looks like Sweet Gum (but is not)
* leaves a
** untoothed simple (5 to 6 inches long)
** dark green in summer
** turn dark red in august (seems early)
** begin falling in late august (nearly bare by Nov)

This is just a wild guess, so don't get your hopes up :-), but your
description
might fit the Sourwood tree, Oxydendron arboreum.

But at 50', may rather a Sourgum (Blackgum, Tupelo) tree? The above
description fits. Do some of the branches grow almost perpendicular to the
trunk, straight out?
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...sylvatica.html