# 2 to ID, please



## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I could use a little help..
This I thought was a Cosmos when I transplanted the seedlings from all over the yard to this bed by the garden. The seedlings looked like Cosmos.. but now they are ferny andover 7 feet tall with no blooms. I have no idea, but they are lovely and a great screen.
















And is this a fig...? I have several growing out of old stumps and it never occurred to me that they may be figs. I have hacked and chopped and let my 4yo hack and chop.. ad today I actuall took a minute and looked and it looks like a fig to me... Duuhh. I could have had figs.. but it is in the shade.. I will need to propogate and move to the sun I think. Opinions on that as well...I really, really, really want figs, so you understand my disgust with self.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

I know nothing about figs, but the one you've been hacking looks like mulberry to me. I don't know about the first one either, but it's really cool-looking.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

See, I thought it was mulberry, that was why I have been hacking at it. I don't feel so bad now. Someone said they thought it might be a fig and I was just sick. And no matter how I whack it it is still 10 ft. tall. I will remove it completely when it is not so hot out. Thank you.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

it looks figgy to me, lol.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

The top one looks to me like asparagus.

The bottom one, definitely a mulberry.


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## RoseGarden (Jun 5, 2005)

No clue what the top photos are.

I was going to jump in and say the bottom pics are definitely figs, based not only on leaf shape but by the way the branches and petioles look. But then I've seen some mulberries and I am just not entirely sure now. The leaf shape is throwing me. I have never seen a fig with *quite* that leaf shape, but having said that there are hundreds of variations on fig leaf shape and maybe I just have't seen quite that shape. 

However, one quick way to tell is to snap off a branch. Sticky thick white sap that makes your skin burn is definitely fig. Mulberry doesn't have this sort of sap.

Just for curiosity sake, please let us know what the sap is like.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I will do the sap thing in the AM. Thanks for the tip. And I will let you guys know.
And with the top one, the stems/stalks are woody. This is a serious plant. Grows wild/naturalized all over the yard, but not as tall as those. They had the benefit of being tended and fed. I am glad I like them, cuz I don't think I can eradicate them. I sure wish someone new what they were.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I did the sap thing and there was no sap whatsoever. Inside the stem there was a corky white fiber and nothing else.. I guess this makes it a mulberry. Sigh.
I guess it is for the best considering the location of these things. I will buy figs next year. And a huge Attaboy/girl to anyone on the planet that can name the thing on the top. And if and when it seeds.. which will be weird since I haven't seen any bloom persay.. I can gather them for anybody who wants some. Truly beautiful.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i have never, ever seen a mulberry with leaves that big. the stem looks like some sort of ficus. (where the leaves attach). i just planted three fig seedlings and the stems look very, very similar.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

Is there any distinctive scent with the top one?


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## RoseGarden (Jun 5, 2005)

Wow, I just can't believe that's not a fig, what with the 5-lobed, palmate leaves. I know the inside of young branches on figs have a white sort of spongy interior, but it should have yielded some white sap. Did you also try pulling off some leaves? :shrug: 

I've seen mulberries, but not with leaves like that. I'd be all curious to know if it really is a mulberry.


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## jessepona (Sep 7, 2005)

I'm pretty sure the tree is a mulberry, at least it looks like the ones I've seen and it's a lot more likely you've got a volunteer mulberry than a volunteer fig LOL

As for the herbaceous plant- maybe dog fennel? Not sure on that one.


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## chris30523 (Jun 11, 2005)

We always called the first one feather grass. Isn't really grass but it is soft like a feather,beautiful in the fall.It grows in our pastures near the fence and along the creek bank.It will die out in the fall and leave a woody stalk.Can't help with the real name though.
The other one I would have said fig.Doesn't look like the mulberry I have.


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## alabamared (May 23, 2005)

The top pic looks like what we call summer cedar.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Fig tree:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear.../www.flickr.com/photos/jelens/&ei=UTF-8&src=p
note the smooth leaf edges.

Mulberry:
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/moal.html
Check the leaf edges and bark on the tree.


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## Glenda in MS (Sep 15, 2007)

The bottom plant looks like a Brown Turkey Fig 

The top one looks kinda like Asparagus. I don't know what zone you are in, but it is unlikely asparagus if you transplanted it, as asparagus has a deep root system and is somewhat difficult to get started in the South.


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## Don (Dec 23, 2005)

Asparagas would have the edible shoots as the plant was growing. Glenda is correct about the deep root system...how deep did you go when you transplanted? Also, asparagas does not have a flower of any kind, but does produce a red berry-like seed pod.
Here are pictures we took of the fig tree our neighbor has:
Leaf:








Leaf and branch end:








Your mystery plant is indeed a mulberry. Whether the fruitless kind or not, you'll know in the spring. If you're unable to eradicate it, maybe there's someone nearby who would use the berries. Otherwise, if it's fruitless, they make great shade trees! Or, you could see if the local juvenile court needs a kid to do some community service...have him/them dig it out!


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Those leaves look too thin to be figs. I'd say it is a mulberry. At any rate, I've seen mulberries on a tree with leaves just like that.

The top one is Dog fennel, AKA summer cedar AKA cypressweed.


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## jedsmom (Aug 15, 2007)

Mulberry trees have three different types of shapes for their leaves. That might be why everyone is thinking of something a little different for Mulberry. But I agree that it is Mulberry. The photos from Danaus29 are a good representation I think and they do show the differences in the leaf shapes. Also, the vigorous growth you mention is indicative of Mulberry.

I can't tell if the top is asparagus or dogfennel like someone else mentioned. If it is annual you most likely have dogfennel.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Someone PMed me but their box is full...

Figs and mulberries are both in the Moraceae family. It looks like a ficus to me; thin, shiny leaves do occur (I have 1 or 2). But, if the sap test failed, I'd say mulberry. I assume it didn't flower this year which further supports mulberry; a ficus that size should have. (Actually, I have 1 that's apparently sterile; I've waited 4 years but I know it's a ficus!)


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

ok, i guess i am changing my mind...


Red Mulberry
Morus rubra

http://www.volusia.org/arboretum/Trees/red_mulberry.htm


although the shape of the leaves of the mulberry trees i have is very similar to this, i am not totally convinced mine are morus rubra. i looked at morus alba too, but even though the size of the leaf is appropriate for my trees, the shape is more of a mitten shape and my trees have the rubra shape. another mulberry from a different family, paper mulberry, looks nothing like my trees or this thread's tree. dendrology at virginia tech listed 15-20 feet (i think it was that site) as the largest tree size, but my brother's property very close to here was once lined with huge mulberry trees far greater than 15-20 feet tall. there are many other species of mulberry native to asia. perhaps the trees in my neighborhood were originally imported. i find this very interesting and i need to research my trees. i just know that i have never seen mulberry leaves that large before. dendrology at virginia tech stated that rubra leaves can be anywhere from 3-6 inches long. mine were probably closer to 3 than 6.

very interesting. i think this board is my favorite on this site...i seem to learn a lot here.


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## jessepona (Sep 7, 2005)

I know figs are pollinated by only by fig wasps- so I was wondering, figs not being native in America, are there fig wasps to pollinate them here? I know that the common fig can produce fruit in the absence of the fig wasp, but the fruit produced isn't fertile. So my question is it even possible then to have a volunteer fig growing in your yard?


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Common figs are self-fertile; they are all females. Propagation is achieved by cloning thus the odds of a "volunteer" are not good. However, amongst my collection is one grown from a seed from a dried fig; she does fruit without pollination. Strange plants these ficus be.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Thank you everyone, espeially Jessepona, Alabamared and Cyngbaeld for naming the beautiful one in the top. I do love it and will propagate it profusely next year. Still a little sad that it wasn't the old variety cosmos that I had thought, but can't wait to use it everywhere I want a fluffy wall of green. And I know my luck and I am going to vote mulberry. The stump that it is coming out of is just to big and there are several of them.. and I am just not the kind of gal that gets figs! I get mulberries. And I do have big (50 ft) mulberry trees, so it stands to reason that I would have others. If I find anything different in the spring I will pipe up. Thanks again.


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