ailanthus?

Perhaps just one of the true sumacs like smooth sumac (Rhus glabra)?

Looks like a pretty smooth margin. Smooth, Staghorn sumac etc., have toothed margins. Watch for white berries, that will pin it down as poison sumac.

whatever it is.. is was planted by a bird.. sitting on your gutter above..

its about 8 feet TOO CLOSE to your foundation ...

do NOT wait for berry color.. unless you move it ...

ken

Thanks for the replies.

Ailanthus was a close resemblance I hadn't considered; though am ruling out because references say it has little or no fall color.

Agree with rugbyhukr that the margins are too smooth for one of the Sumacs native to our region. Could this be a seedling thing where the serrated edges appear on later sets of leaves?

Yes, I'm asking about it because it does need to be moved. Question is whether to put in the trash or pot it to see what develops. Suppose I'm too wimpy to try a skin test.

This post was edited by bostedo on Thu, Feb 14, 13 at 13:46

If you could get close enough to photograph the leaf buds forming for this year's growth, that might help. Might not, so be careful.

Here's a photo of the buds from Feb 14th; one month after the initial photo where it still had it's leaves. Sorry about the fuzzy spots, couldn't figure out how to coax better depth of field out of our old Nikon automatic at this distance.

Just my opinion, but that bark looks much more like Rhus than Toxicodendron vernix. Look at all those lenticels which are much more characteristic of Rhus, but I don't know that the leaf scars are right ...

This link has great bud pictures of both Rhus, Toxicodendron and others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter buds

Thanks for the great reference on winter buds! "Shield-shaped" leaf scar seems to be one key characteristic differentiating Toxicondendron from Rhus in the examples, so take this as another solid indication it's poison sumac. The lenticels on the plant in question are also very similar to those in the Toxicondendron vernix photo on page 10 of the linked article. Guess I'd better go find some disposable gloves to pick up those fallen leaves.

This post was edited by bostedo on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 0:09