Hard to tell from this distance. It lokks like a tree that has been cut down and has sprouted many new growths. Could be anything from Chanomeles to Almond.

In other words, photo inadequate. Try a closer view, showing buds.

The background is swallowing it up. Can't tell, especially with no leaves.

There are no leaves. No buds...so...a closer look won't help. I'll post again when growth happens.

If there are really no buds it's dead. If you look closely I suspect you will find some, even if not showing any green. Can you take a close up of the twig bottom right? There are buds on it which can be seen even in this photo. The bark and bud arrangement can help id a shrub even with no leaves.

Flora, no, probably not dead. A lot of plants will die to the ground in winter, and sprout from the roots. Or, this one may simply not be budding yet.

None of my plants are budding really because of the frost. It is still so cold at night. I'll take a picture though because I definitely may have missed something. I can do the same with my other trees if you want to look at those also. Nothing is showing growth right now except my bulbs and avocados. Thank you!:)

Here is the pic. Hope it helps.

We're talking buds as in dormant buds, winter buds - the buds that the new shoots you are talking about come out of when the growing season starts.

Yes, as bboy says, by 'buds' we do not mean green leaflets emerging, we mean the dormant winter buds. Living trees and shrubs have buds on them all through the winter. Eahamel - my statement stands - if there are no dormant buds the thing is dead. But this shrub clearly has dormant buds visible, so is not dead. It could be a Malus which, as Thedecoguy suggested some time back, could have been cut to the ground giving the shrubby appearance as it produces new shoots. Lovemanyplants - can you confirm whether or not their is evidence of a central trunk which has been cut down?

Soooo....what exactly are you saying bboy? Is that not the right picture that Flora asked for?

There is no stump that it had been cut down to that I can find. Supposed to be a shrub I was told.

Oh good grief - I can't believe that 'their'. A thousand apologies.

Bboy - do you think it looks appley? California is out my sphere, so it's just a guess.

Buds and bark resemble Sorbus.

I agree, Thedecoguy, that was another one I thought of. Also a member of the Rosaceae, like Malus.

lovemany ...

look at one of your posts.. next to your name it says NONE ...

go to your members page ... and change that into closest large city and z? ... whatever your zone is ...

these peeps in z8 and 9... will have a better understanding of where you are.. and why its not in bud... etc..

i mean really ... if you are in z9.. and it should have budded weeks ago.. its dead..

if you are z5 MI like me.. post a pic in a month when it gets closer to leafing out ...

i presume in one of your many posts.. you probably told us where you are.. but it needs to be in every post.. because we cant keep track of everyone ... well.. i cant ...

ken

ps: the dead of winter cracks me up here on GW.. we are so starved for new posts.. we will argue about brown sticks.. lol .. just to talk to each other ... thx for your multitude of posts ... so as to entertain us.. when you get your IDs.. head on over to the shrub forum.. if you want ideas on how to take care of these things ... and over there use good searchable titles ... with the latin names included ...

Believe it is an almond. Have been looking at pictures and that's what it looks most like. What do you guys think?

Not impossible. Almond is also in the Rosaceae but it doesn't look quite right to me. And if you do live in California I would have thought an almond would be in flower by now. Also I have never seen an almond bush, only trees, but then I don't live in an almond climate.

When it leafs out it will be a lot easier to tell.

Sorry, zone is 10. It is not "dead of winter" like Washington or New York or Canada..but instead it is VERY cold at night for us. 25-35 at night. During the day it is up to 70. Frost is showing up in the morning and none of my plants have started budding yet. The reason I think it is a nut( almond or walnut), is because the owner of the property told me it was but I could not remember which. I was hoping I could post a picture and have one of you know. I've never had a nut tree/bush before so I didn't know what to expect.

Definitely not dead. I cut the tree and its green. :)

Well we can tell you for certain it is not a walnut! I see a dead leaf caught in the base. Can you give us a photo of that? Or of any other dead leaves lying around it?

That's a leaf from the nearby tree. No dead leaves from this one. I'll wait a few weeks and show buds