Best I could do for leaves was from Google Street View, so very blurry

The whole tree.

I'd say it might be a maple.

A close up pic of the twigs and buds would help identify it

Elm or hack-berry.

Thanks for the input so far...really appreciate it. I'll see if he has a picture of the buds/twigs, and if not, ask him to take one.

Whatever it is, thankfully it appears to be leaning away from the house. That is a disaster waiting to happen with all of those bark inclusions!

Saving up for removal and then planting of a more appropriate well sited tree will increase the visual appeal of the property and the home.

As for the ID, I'd lean towards an elm based on the bark and weeping habit of the foliage. Probably a slippery or American elm.

I am 98% sure that tree is an American Elm and 100% sure that it is an Elm. Watch out for DED and make sure that none of the large trunks are angled toward the house. If this were my house and assuming the tree poses a minimal threat to the house, I would begin planting a few replacement trees now so that when that tree does either get DED or the poor trunk angles get the best of it, some shade would still be present. At any rate, enjoy the new house!

first pic.. left most trunk sure looks like it is leaning toward the house ...

in MI i would fear siberian elm ... carp tree ...

and it looks vaguely like a silver maple ....

i have never seen a hack that big in MI ... but that means little ...

i doubt we can ever be sure on these pix ...

house looks really nice.. i suppose it might be a function of the reduced price of the house.. including anticipatory removal ... if an ID could ever be perfected ...

when might it need to be removed.. oh.. sometime in the next 20 years.. hopefully the season prior to the next worst ice storm ....

an offer on the house.. could be made contingent on .. not only a house inspection.. but a tree inspection .... by an ASA certified tree inspector ... might be worth the couple hundred bucks ... if for no other reason.. peace of mind ...

i cant recall who. but there is some guy who hangs around the tree forum.. who has an inordinate fear of trees killing him in his sleep ... if only it was hanging over the garage ...

again.. first pic.. i already see a huge healed??? removal scar.. wonder what that is all about???

finally.. how far from the house.. looks like less than 6 feet in the first pic???

ken

EDIT: to add link ... i actually met William "Doc" Pickhardt.. in relation to an emprelis claim .... and he seemed to know his stuff.. though i dont know if you would want to put him on the clock to drive across MI ....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 9:57

There is also a very real possibility that the 6 stem clump facing the camera in the first pic is a separate organism than the larger trunk closest to the house. If this were the case they could be the same species or unrelated species (I believe they are all elms). Your last picture to me really looks as if there are two different growth habits emerging from all of those trunks.

If this were the case, the 6 in the clump out front would be evaluated separately from the 1 directly behind them. Sometimes when people mow, they miss seedlings and suckers that emerge close to the stem of the tree they are mowing around and situations like this happen as a result =)

I'd vote Hackberry but can't say for sure.

Doesn't really matter as that is a tree I'd remove in a heartbeat, as in the day I get ownership before I even more in.

He doesn't have a picture showing the buds/twigs, but I've asked him to get one. I've passed along all the comments too.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to share their knowledge. It helps!

It looks elm-ish. Quite the hodge-podge of stems there! Safety is an issue, of course.

+oM

Regardless the species, I'd probably remove it sooner than later.

I'd go w/Hackberry initially, but some type of Elm is possible, but I'm just echoing others now.

The hackberry suggestions are interesting as the local 2 main species of hackberry have very warty bark with protrusions all over much different than what we see above - which appears to be typical american/slippery elm bark. It will certainly be a learning moment for me when the ID is zeroed in =)

Twigs would help a lot.

I'm with j0nd03 - the 6 trunks emanating in the foreground of the photo look like elm, but the large upright trunk in the middle/background looks more like mockernut hickory, or black walnut, to me.