Can you ID this tree?

[Brad_bb]

 

 

My friend sent this to me from North Carolina asking me if I could ID this tree.  I have no idea if it's native or??  Anyone know?  The bark seems distictive.

[Okrafarmer]

Not certain, but it looks like a large crepe myrtle to me.

[WDH]

I agree with the man who farms Okra.

[Okrafarmer]

I agree with the man who farms Okra.

Whoa. I'm starting to improve. It helps that it was in my general area.

I like seeing crepe myrtle grow big like that. I hate when people top them off.

[bowman316]

Cedar trees have that red bark.  But it looks like it has leaves on it, not needles. 

[Okrafarmer]

If you were there in person you would see that the outer, papery bark peels off, leaving a hard, smooth, bony layer beneath it. That is what crepe myrtles do. People plant them by the hundred thousand around here, as yard decorations in both residential and commercial applications. The trend was to cut them back severely when they got over about twelve feet tall, and let them sprout back anew. I hate that process though; I prefer to just see the tree grow naturally (maybe with a little prudent trimming around the bottom). Lately, I have seen more and more crepe myrtles allowed to just grow naturally without being docked. These here look natural-grown to me.