Sumac or Tree of Life?

[MsSweeney]

Can anyone help me to identify this tree?

I very occasionally spot these in my garden and they are easy to pull out when they are 3ft tall.

Yesterday, I looked out a top window and saw that one had camouflaged itself behind a tall berry bush and had reached a height of approximately 8ft. I was horrified.

My neighbour recently cut one down that had grown to about 25ft and had pushed up paving stones and caused other damage. It would drop its fruit which would stain my pathway brown - an awful and ugly nuisance.

Thanks

Not a Sumac, could be an Ash. They have a sneaky habit of turning up unnoticed.

Thanks for the quick response. I did have Ash on my list. Not sure why I eliminated it. Are there any other identifying features to look for? It is ridiculously fast growing too. I'm not getting far on Google.

Black buds, especially in winter. Green bark in young shoots turning to smooth grey.

Thank you, both.

Yes, it's an Ash. They spring up regularly, take hold and grow so rapidly that I assumed they must be weeds.

(I've downloaded the Wildlife Trust tree identification app on the back of this. )

They spring up regularly, take hold and grow so rapidly that I assumed they must be weeds. Someone in another group gave the best definition, I think. On the lines of "A weed is a plant growing where you don't want it to. So it's a function of an individual plant, you can't apply the term "weed" to a whole species".