Hello,

I was walking the dog today when I noticed something out of the
ordinary. Most of the trees around this area are oak, birch, maple
and hickory (very acidic soil), and the blossoms aren't very
noticeable. But out of the blue today was a tree with blossoms! Only
about 1/4 of the tree was flowering (the rest was under dense
growth...this part stuck out over the roadside).

These look like cherry blossoms. About 2 years ago I obtained two
cherry trees, but both were mowed over by deer so I'm not too familiar
with the blossoms. The blossoms from this tree looked like cherry but
I wanted to make sure. The tree seems fairly mature (about a 6-inch
diameter trunk) and the bark looks a little like a black birch. The
flowers have a faint but very pleasant smell Here's what a sprig looks
like, sorry about the fuzzy pic, I might be able to get a better pic
tomorrow;

http://home.ptd.net/~vstevans/flower1.jpg
http://home.ptd.net/~vstevans/flower2.jpg

I never noticed this tree, because I never noticed the blossoms and in
summer one tree looks like a million others (and cherry looks a bit
like a million other black birch around here). If anyone can ID it as
cherry, apple, etc. I would greatly appreciate it. This area wasn't
always overgrown so maybe it's a remnant from bygone days. I'm
friends with the neighbor so I might even be able to transplant it to
a sunnier spot! Thanks very much,

Dan