Carol- that's it!!! Wow, thank you so much- thrilled to find out what it is!!!! Yay GardenWeb!!! :)

well.. 2 independent ID's ... if its scale.. its treatable.. but i have never seen such on mature bark ... if its mushrooms.. as bboy suggests.. i think.. lol ... they are living on the rotting wood under the bark ... time is limited ... that is a very bad prior pruning.. i am wondering what the prior owner did to the rest of the tree ... two more pix .. as good a closeup as you can get... and a pic of the whole ... may as well tell us where you are also .... ken ps: why am i wondering if this tree was topped.. or telephone poled ... or any significant construction in the root zone... or all three????

I agree with resin, it's Paulownia. I'm sure growing in the hot sunny desert climate(I know not technically desert, but close enough) of the San Fernando Valley affects leaf size(making them smaller in response to the intense sun) and even the appearance of the leaf surface. dibbit, if you look at the outer edges of the tree(most easily seen near top right) in the first photo, you'll notice that the seed clusters are indeed standing up, while the ones that appear to be hanging down look to be doing so as a result of their own weight and were not hanging down before.

Looks like an acorn from one of the live oaks to me, hard to tell which species exactly. One or two isn't a big danger, but they are toxic in quantity. From a pet site: ++++++++ The primary toxins found in the (acorn) plant material are tannins and phenols. These compounds attack proteins they come in contact with possibly causing ulcers and bleeding of the mouth lining, the esophagus, and the intestines. This may be demonstrated by bloody or dark diarrhea. Additionally, the toxins are converted in the digestive tract where they may enter the blood stream causing hepatic (liver) and renal (kidney) damage and in extreme cases failure. The symptoms are usually delayed, in some cases a week after ingestion. These signs may include depression, constipation or diarrhea (both accompanied by blood), abdominal pain, rough coat, a period of frequent urination followed by no urination. The lethal dose for dogs is not known, for cattle it is approximately 6% of the animal's body weight. If you have a 40 pound dog, that's almost 2½ pounds of acorns. However the literature does not state how long a period of time this quantity could be consumed over and still be lethal. As a precaution, keep all areas available to your dog free of acorns and downed oak vegetation. Be especially vigilant after periods of extreme wind or strong storms when there may be more plant material on the ground.