posted 10 years ago
This looks like Ailanthus to me. Sumacs don't have winged seeds that blow around, they have berries, some smooth and some furry. Ailanthus can also get taller than any sumac, almost as tall as the general canopy of trees in the background. The leaves also have a peculiar unique funky smell, again unlike any sumac, whose leaves have not much smell, or walnut, with a not unpleasant kind of solvent smell.....
Ailanthus is considered an "invasive exotic" in many places where it grows, but it has the ability to survive where many plants cannot, and might be a valuable pioneer on degraded sites. Supposedly it can grow in straight coal ash or mine spoil, and the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" is named after it, where it comes up in cracks through the pavement..... I'm not aware of any practical uses. Most animals won't touch it, and the wood is light and not much worth burning....