There's a new tree in my garden - at least it seems to be a tree- and I didn't plant it. Can someone please help me to identify this unknown plant? I've hunted online and in books but can't seem to figure it out... help!!
(Ed: If you read this post earlier please roll to the bottom - I added another photo with one leaf against a white background so you can see the 5-veined leaves, laddering up alternately on the flexible stem. Mulberry is one suggestion -papaya another. The space between leaf stems seems rather large for papaya, but shade & 12" of rain from Hermine have made other plants very gawky so I'm not ruling anything out quite yet.)
The plant appeared in a new flower bed that had been St Augustine lawn until last March. I noticed it in early summer but thought at first it was a seedling of some kind of hibiscus. Just in case it was something good, I decided to let it grow, try to identify it and move it when fall brought cooler weather.
Once its leaves expanded fully it reminded me of a Silver Maple, but maple trees have opposite leaves, and this plant has alternate leaves. The oldest leaves are almost 12-inches long, deeply lobed with pointed tips.
This tree-shrub-woody perennial is now 5-feet tall and it's not only ruining the way the border looks but is shading its valuable neighbors. It has to go somewhere - the question is whether that somewhere should be another part of the yard, a large container or the compost heap.Thanks for any advice - Annie in Austin
(Ed at 4 PM: Here's one more photo - thanks to everyone on the blog, Twitter and at GardenWeb Texas Forum for commenting! Read through the comments and see how the plant was identified as a Mulberry.)
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