thank you for the responses. i thought it was perriniana because my gf had shown me a picture of it online, but there was no name of the plant, so i tried to find something that looked like it, and perriniana was the closest i could find. however, i was still confused, cause i seen others that looked like it and it was starting to get confusing. its growing outside of a closed down circuit city with a bunch of plants. if anybody is sure on what it is, or pretty sure, i would like to buy it, or directed to some place in my area where i could buy it, or online. i went to lowes because somebody that used to work there told me that the garden center might be able to help me identify it because they have books of plants, and they could probably order it if they didnt have it, but that didnt work out. i just started hearing about a nursery from the garden worker yesterday, and have no idea about them, sounds like its the right place to go over lowes. links and pictures would help if u could provide them. i only have that picture because, she said herself " this is the one " so i just went based on my observation, but im no plant expert obviously

Although it will likely generate some flak (seems like it does everytime I offer a differing opinion), I'm going to disagree.....again :-) Eucalyptus are often coppiced or pollarded to encourage shrub-like growth. It often happens naturally in colder climates where the plant experiences considerable winter dieback of the topgrowth. In extreme cases, eucalyptus can be treated as virtually a herbaceous perennial, dying back to the roots in winter and then producing rapid topgrowth in season. In a good hard winter here, eucalyptus will typically follow this pattern. Coppicing or pollarding is a well-accepted practice with a lot of larger growing shrubs and trees. It has been practiced in Europe for centuries. And it doesn't necessarily create diseases issues or affect longevity. Catalpa, paulownia, black locust, hornbeams, cercis (redbud), certain maples, ash, oaks, willows, cotinus and eucalyptus can all be pollarded or coppiced routinely to maintain a smaller size or to enhance the foliage effect or eliminate flowering and seeding. And that's only a few of the suitable species. Your little tree looks like a cider gum, Eucalyptus gunnii. While one of the hardier eucalypt species, it frequently does get killed back in a bad winter in zone 8. These are often seen as shrubs in my area for that reason. There is a quite mature one (large diameter trunk) planted in a nearby traffic circle that is maintained at around 6'. One of the common reasons for intentionally coppicing or pollarding this plant other than to maintain a specific size is to maintain the juvenile, perfoliate foliage. But it would be happiest in as much sun as possible. Here is a link that might be useful: pollarding eucalyptus

There are hundreds of species, similar ones often distinguished by details of parts such as fruits, flowers and leaves. Looking at internet photos alone may not produce the same species, or result in a false identification - unless species of interest is very distinctive and commonly planted. Comparing parts of tree being wondered about with those in a nearby labeled collection might turn up a useful lead. Always follow up with reading serious written descriptions.

Dear MM You might find it takes a while for any answers here, the forums are a bit slow. But on checking my grafted tree, I found something that looked similar to what you described. Please have a look in the "gallery" (link below) and see if that is what your friend found. Here is a link that might be useful: possible match