I'm usually good at tree ID - found this little beauty growing in the wild, and it is very beautiful. Nothing online seems to help me with it's ID. The foliage is very much almost identical to a young Eastern Red Cedar - but as you see in the pictures, it is deciduous! It isn't a Larch - because I am in Zone 8, and they do not do well here - plus it really doesn't look like a Larch. It grows very vigorously, and is very healthy. The trunk looks more like a hardwood than a conifer, which is weird. The new foliage is very bright green, and then turns to the beautiful red/bronze color you see. I have since styled it differently than these pictures, and it is really one of my favorite trees.

Hi Bensai...Wow, this one is certainly unusual. I have gone through 45 pages of Gymnosperm trees in my Field Guide of Trees of North America and it's just not in there. I see the similarity you mentioned to the young foliage of the Eastern Red Cedar. How long have you had this tree and how do you know it is deciduous, if I may ask? Could this be a tropcal or sub-tropical species possibly? It's got me stumped!

That is a great looking tree. I have absolutely no idea what it is. It looks like a redwood...kind of, could be a larch hybrid...weird. how long have you had it?

I've had the tree for about 2 or 3 months. Found it in a wooded area growing along a path through the woods. The new foliage comes out green, and quickly turns to the bronze/orange/rust color that is so beautiful. It has the "spikes" along the branches just like a juniper, and the foliage is almost identical to a juniper or Eastern Red Cedar (juniper species) in juvenile stage. But the trunk is what really throws me. No spikes, no peeling like in a juniper, just a very pale gray and smooth trunk almost like a young maple or something. It's definitely not tropical - we have had sub-freezing weather lately and the thing responds with new growth - it loves the cold. It is one of my most vigorous trees - doesn't even seem to be dormant. It has produced lots of new growth through the winter. I have no idea - but it is one of my favorites.

Perhaps it's not deciduous, but it definitely has a winter color. It hasn't dropped any foliage like deciduous trees do, but I'm thinking it's Spring/Summer color is green. I could be wrong. Some Junipers turn bronze in winter - but this definitely isn't a juniper. And the color is way more dramatic than any juniper I've ever seen.