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julieinfl

Seeking Help Identifying FL tree - urgent

julieinFL
9 years ago

I have a beautiful, established tree in my yard that's at least 15-20 years old. The tree was in my yard when I purchased the house, 3 years ago, and thus I don't know what it is. My HOA just sent us a violation letter (3 years later) demanding that we remove the tree, claiming that it's an invasive Brazilian Pepper Tree.

From the research I've done (I would be devastated to lose it - not only is it beautiful, but the tree is an established home to nearly a dozen orchids that are beautiful and in bloom), the tree looks like the pepper tree - but has a number of distinct differences:

- There's only one tree - we've never pulled seedlings - and despite it's age and the fact that the home was vacant/foreclosed and poorly maintained when we moved in, there were no seedlings. The pepper tree is said to be an aggressive grower and I can't believe that in all the years it's been there, there isn't a single additional plant

- The tree flowers in spring (it's in bloom right now), not Oct-Dec, and in 3 years has not once produced a berry

- My tree isn't an evergreen - it regularly sheds leaves and twice a year loses a big bulk of its leaves like our other deciduous trees (which shed around the same time)

- the terminal leaf isn't larger than the lateral leaves

- The bark looks more like a sycamore than the bark in photos I can find online

I have 25 days to remove it (which will be very costly and difficult since we can't even have any machinery behind our property - and it's outside our fence) and I am searching for a way to have a professional ID the tree, but despite the numerous publications I can't find a good contact that can help me determine whether I can appeal the HOA demand.

Any help IDing or leads would be greatly appreciated!

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