Any tree identifiers out there?

[profsaffel]

I'm still fairly amateur at tree id. I can usually identify easily the major 'bow' woods without too much trouble. However, I have a couple of deciduous hardwood trees of small to medium diameter in the yard that I need to cut down. I always assumed they were some sort of oak, but there is no evidence of acorns and now that I examine the leaves, they aren't like any tree I know. I even tried comparing it to several online databases, but I'm stumped. I'm in Northeast Texas if that narrows the search a little. Here are a couple of pics that might help.

The leaves are randomly alternating and have no serration on the edges. The leaves are also velvety.

Thanks for helping,
Doug

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[Lombard]

Looks like Persimmon to me. Tough wood used in golf club heads, and it will make a fine bow. Just watch out when drying it, because it will want to twist and check. I restrain the Persimmon that I have to floor joists in my mini barn to prevent that. Learned the hard way. The male trees bear no fruit, and seem somewhat straighter, but not always.

[profsaffel]

Yeah, I believe that's it. I didn't think it was persimmon because I didn't realize that some trees don't bear the fruit. I was going to try to make a bow out of it anyway, lol. This just confirms it. Thanks for the warning about the checking and twisting, too.

[Pat B]

Is it the small diameter tree in the pic?  If so, iooks like a flowering dogwood(cornus florida) to me. Any signs of berries(red) or next years flower buds?   If it is dogwood it will make a very good bow.

[profsaffel]

Yeah, dogwood was another strong possibility, but I've never seen this tree flower. Sure does look dogwoodish, though, you are right.

[Hillbilly]

Looks like flowering dogwood to me, too. The smaller one is definitely dogwood, hard to tell about the bigger one from the pic. Definitely not persimmon.

[mullet]

 If the weather is warm the Dogwoods won't flower down here.

[profsaffel]

Thanks for the help. These two trees are so close to one another... perhaps one is a persimmon and the other dogwood?  At least I have it narrowed to those two. If need be, I'll take another better pic or two before I cut them down to get a reaffirmation. Thanks guys.

[ken75]

dogwood

[Lombard]

Pictures of Dogwood, and a two hundred year old Persimmon.

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[Pappy]

Dog wood on the small one and maybe cherry on the bigger one,looks a little like persimmon except the bark looks a little flaky.
   Pappy

[cowboy]

First thought - persimmon.

[medic336]

dogwood and wild cherry. I live in alabama and we have a lot of both species.

[JustinNC]

have to go with cherry on number two. Persimmon bark is a little more blocky and more uniform. As Pappy said, that bark looks a little flackey.

[crooketarrow]

   Cherry