The pretty tree in Sunday best

The tree "next door" is clothed in blossom, little bunches of it at the end of each twig, with nine or so little flowers. There are many trees, or bushes, like this in the area: all have been blooming for the past few weeks.

I thought it might be a type of hawthorn, but it has no thorns. Maybe east-coast-American hawthorns are thornless? Maybe it's something completely different?

The leaves are oval, coming to a point, carried asymmetrically. The young bark is grey, and smooth: on older trees it is rougher and supports lichens. I don't remember if it had berries or not: if it did, they have long been eaten.

Better do the sensible thing, and ask the locals. Help, anyone?

(I saw the American equivalent of a Horse Chestnut the other day, in East Hampton. The leaves were new and still soft and droopy. They are called Buckeyes here. No-one plays conkers. And American Sycamores are completely different to English Sycamores, reinforcing the good practice of learning Latin names!)


My tree book is not helping.