SOLVED: please identify this mystery tree

this came up in my yard last year.i wasn't sure if it was a tree or what,i dug it up and brought it in for the winter just to see what it would do,and because i couldn't stand to see it die before i knew what it was. it lost all its leaves in the winter even inside. then in the spring,it sprouted new leaves.i then decided it acted like a tree so i put it in the ground. it continued to grow,no buds or flowers or anything to help me identify it . i know someone out there must know exactly what this is. i would appreciate any info.

This message was edited Jan 8, 2011 6:29 PM

I think okra would have fuzzy leaves and it would bloom and make fruit. That has shiney leaf all the way up the trunk. I don't think okra. But not sure what it is.

Morus alba, White Mulberry. Mature foliage will present typical morphology generally sometime after one to seven years.

Type of rose mallow maybe?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1872/

I was thinking a Texas Star Hibiscus, but calling it a tree threw me off. The leaves look like the star hibiscus.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dtexas%2Bstar%2Bhibiscus&w=106&h=160&imgurl=www.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dtexas%2Bstar%2Bhibiscus%23focal%3D4cfddd6998214f50eb5a06d49ab1e34d%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fmostlytexasnatives.com%252fimages%252fwhite_hibiscus_good_closeup_8-27-08_009.jpg&size=&name=search&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dtexas%2Bstar%2Bhibiscus%23focal%3D4cfddd6998214f50eb5a06d49ab1e34d%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fmostlytexasnatives.com%252fimages%252fwhite_hibiscus_good_closeup_8-27-08_009.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dtexas%2Bstar%2Bhibiscus%23focal%3D4cfddd6998214f50eb5a06d49ab1e34d%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fmostlytexasnatives.com%252fimages%252fwhite_hibiscus_good_closeup_8-27-08_009.jpg&p=texas+star+hibiscus&type=&no=3&tt=111&oid=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fimages%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D401325236209%26id%3Dcab924b8ea8d797cd9a7917c08abcdda&tit=...+White+Texas+Star+Hibiscus&sigr=15usr2ire&sigi=15n9k4vdn&sigb=11t2qrqjp&fr=slv8-yma2

I'm with nifty on it being a mulberry. I see some woody stems in the picture and H. coccineus is herbaceous so it wouldn't look woody. Also since it's herbaceous, it should die all the way back over the winter, not just lose its leaves.

I don't think that looks anything like a mulberry. My first thought is Hibiscus as well.

Yes and it being dug up and brought in for winter would explain it only dropping leaves instead of the whole plant dieing back.

Possible related thread of interest: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/730363/?hl=morus

OK I GIVE UP! I think that IS it after all. LOL. Big smile!

mekos, hot or cold, H. coccineus still die to the ground every year.

Quess what? I have one of those in my yard and I thought it look like Hibiscus Texas Star. Mine has a bud on it today. It has bloomed once in early fall, 3 red blooms.Go to Plant and Tree Identification on this site and type in 'Hibiscus Texas Star' and look at the picture of the Texas Stars listed and see if you agree with me. My yard is in Alvin TX.

LOL I have the Red Texas Star Hibiscus in my front yard next to the road and every summer when it is growing before blooms appear, Cops going by will see it as they pass and come to a grinding screeching halt and back up to my flower to look before slowly driving on by. They think it is wacky weed growing by the road. I laugh my head off at them.

i have red and white texas star hibiscus and i know it is not that. I do have mulberry trees that sprout up from the big one by my fence, but the leaves on this don't look the same. it came up end of 2009,it looses it leaves in winter,and sprouts them out again in early spring,and has a woody stem. it never flowers. here is a closer picture of it.

IGP if you break a leaf does it smell?

I agree it is not a red Texas Star Hibiscus. When looking at the Texas Star Hibiscus in the plant files the leaves look like it is 5 separate leaves with red veins. This neither has 5 separate leaves like here http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/152455/ and there are no red veins on these leaves.

it reminds me of something like Ragweed but that would flower. unless digging it up broke the flowering cycle? Ragweed isn't woody though, is it? i'm just asking questions to anyone looking. i don't know.

it has lost all its leaves now, but if i remember,the leaves smell fresh, kind of like sweet gum tree leaves.

go here http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Abelmoschus/gallery.html and scroll down to the Abelmoschus manihot. Sure looks like this leaf. On that thread trackinsand said it was this also.

huh?

If the plant in this thread (or the one I linked to from 2007) were Abelmoschus manihot it's dead now. First frost would have taken its life, and the now-dead twigs should snap like dry straw.

This message was edited Jan 8, 2011 8:53 PM

One last link to support my identification, then I'm retiring... ^_^

http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5386955

edited to add: I meant retiring for the night, not the discussion of the thread. ;-)

This message was edited Jan 11, 2011 6:01 PM

Boy did I get lost clicking on the different links. DUH I followed a link on here and then followed a link on there and oh my am I confused.

Here is the link to that thread. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/730074/

tracksinsand you said on that thread the plant there was this one http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1888/index.html. When I went to this link growin posted after you and click on their link http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Abelmoschus/gallery.html and scroll down to Abelmoschus manihot. The leaf looks like this one above.

I hope I clarified what I said and did not get the links all confused. My apologies to everyone.

sandy, on the link you posted, i was referring to the flower of another plant entirely. this leaf doesn't remind me of Abelmoschus and Abelmoschus is an annual anyway, not a tree.

I am not trying to be a smart butt but in the plant files it says Annual and tender Perennial. Also on several places that sell it say it is perennial zone 9-11. It is said to 10ft. tall that to me is a small tree. I was going by the picture of the leaf on this link http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Abelmoschus/gallery.html scrolling down to Abelmoschus manihot.

I am sure you are right as you have been doing this a lot longer than I have. I am just starting to try to id things. I have a lot to learn and look forward to learning it from all of you.

lol, don't ever assume i'm right about anything! i learn here every day. in my limited experience with Abelmoschus, it dies every year but it will reseed. perhaps in a tropical zone it would live on but the size alone does not make a tree.

Plant Files can sometimes be off a bit on the hardiness--I haven't grown Abelmoschus at the house I'm in now, but at my old house which was slightly warmer (zone 9b) I did grow it and it never survived the winter. Even if did survive the winter, since it's an annual/tender perennial vs a tree/shrub it would have non-woody stems, while the plant posted here is woody. So I'm still in the mulberry camp.

We may never know as I checked lgp1236 page and looks like their subscription has lapsed. Hopefully it is temporary. Look forward to them coming back.

you don't have to be a subscriber to post a picture here. this happens often on this forum. a person posts a picture and then never returns, leaving us all hanging in suspense.

i never was a subscriber, i am only a member. but i'm still here! i really didn't know it would be this difficult to id this plant,i hoped someone would be sure what it was. i do appreciate all the input on it though.but i still am not sure of its id. i know mulberrys have different looking leaves on the same tree,because i identified the one i have by the fence (it had fruit on it) by looking on the internet,and i have had little ones come up in the yard,and the young leaves look very different from the mature ones,but the leaves on the one i am trying to id are not like those on the mulberry i have,so i am very confused about what in the world it is.

i hope you will come back with more pictures this spring and summer so it can get a positive id. when you do, use this same thread so it will be cohesive. in the mean time, i'll park in ecrane's camp!

Me too, since I have them in my yard .. ( mulberry trees) those look like the young saplings I yank out of my gardens. Just my input, I am not an expert. There are so many vaarieties of mulberry trees, male and female growing around here. I let one go in the back last summer, I will take a pic of it when it resumes its leafing.

track/nifty:

I'm with you! Like 'Smores with your mulberries? Maybe weiners? And Morus wood burns pretty hot, though it will spark and crackle like gangbusters. Are we gonna tell ghost stories, too? This could shape up into quite the camp-out!

lgp1236:

No need to wait till spring! It is likely, with some clear images of buds, stems, leaf scars, roots (if you dig it up) - that this plant can be easier to identify in its dormant state than with the currently supplied images. Many woody perennial plants have unmistakeable features that are more obvious in winter (dormant) season than otherwise. This could help convince the "doubting Thomas" crowd.

Relying solely on seasonal foliage to identify perennial plants is a great habit to break this year. Let it be resolved...

my first LOL of the day! maybe the campfires will melt the ice.......

I vote for Hibiscus coccineus var. albus because of the lack of pink or red in the leaf petioles.

lgp1236: If you try bending the stem by grasping it at its tip with thumb and forefinger to 60 or 90 degrees from vertical and the stem doesn't crimp or snap, then it can't be Hibiscus coccineus (unless it's being protected from the freezing cold most of us in the state are experiencing...but even then I think bending H. coccineus as described would cause the stem to crimp, whereas a woody perennial or tree would not).

As ViburnumValley suggested, photos showing the details metioned would be of great value even at this time of year!