Western Redbud

Thank you Emma, however I believe that Scott's suggestion is more similar. The tree is much smaller than the one pictured in your link and they are not quite as frayed at the end. Thank you so much for the suggestion though! :)

thanks for the Id Scott. I am truly amazed by your knowledge.

The major difference i see is that the edges of the leaves of my spotting are not serrated,
@ Coral yours do seem serrated though it is not that obvious.
in that case it very likely is a Fremont Cottonwood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_fre...