Not really for a $100, but if you can help that would be great. It doesn't lose it's leaves in the winter. I'm trying to decide if I should prune it and keep it, or cut it down. There is a vine growing in it so don't let those leaves throw you off.

4/6/2014 4:02:09 PM

looks like the caterpillars are going to town on it


have we ruled out Flowering Dogwood?

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 6:19 PM. Reason : m]

4/6/2014 5:57:24 PM

looks like a common ficus to me

4/6/2014 8:54:20 PM

Yep, that is definitely a tree.

4/6/2014 9:07:10 PM

Symplocos tinctoria. Gimme my money.

Edited to add:
At first glance it looks like sourwood, but if it doesn't lose it's leaves and it's a native plant then its almost guaranteed to be horse sugar. Where is this tree? You usually don't see horse sugar unless you're south of Raleigh.

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 10:15 PM. Reason : ]

4/6/2014 10:10:20 PM

Not common Ficus, not flowering dogwood, and it really doesn't look like S. tinctoria either.

As far as natives go, it looks like it could be black cherry, but that young bark doesn't look right. Also hard to tell if there is a fine serration on the edges of the leaves. No others come to mind, but I'm not an expert.

My gut tells me it's some sort of fruit-bearing tree that someone planted.

4/6/2014 10:58:36 PM

it may be a plum tree. or a Withe-rod


what a great site: http://www.carolinanature.com/trees/

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 11:05 PM. Reason : d]

4/6/2014 11:03:14 PM

I, too, think it looks like a fruit bearing tree at first glance.

4/6/2014 11:05:31 PM

I don't live in Raleigh, and it hasn't made any fruit. I'm near Charlotte and that tree is close to Lake Wylie.
and yes the dogwood is ruled out, they don't have leaves in the winter. I have three dogwoods.

[Edited on April 6, 2014 at 11:29 PM. Reason : a]

4/6/2014 11:25:02 PM

http://www.carolinanature.com/trees/vica.html

4/6/2014 11:32:43 PM

Is there any chance you can get closer pictures of the leaves and the bark?

4/6/2014 11:35:32 PM

try posting it at

http://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisplant

4/7/2014 9:43:35 AM

Fumbler, I don't think that's what it is. Just looking that tree up on the internet it shows a lot of pics of the tree with these little flowers on it, and this tree never makes anything like that. I'll try to get a closer pic when the typhoon passes through.

4/7/2014 10:55:38 AM

What has gone wrong with your life that you both have $100 to waste like this and are willing to do so?

4/7/2014 11:26:56 AM

[Edited on April 7, 2014 at 11:30 AM. Reason : .]

4/7/2014 11:29:10 AM

^^This tree could be worth thousands

4/7/2014 11:31:48 AM

I have three of these motherfuckin weed trees growing up in the middle of various azaleas in my hard. I have cut them, doused them in roundup, pulled what I thought were the roots up and the damn things keep coming back.

4/7/2014 11:54:53 AM

I googled motherfuckin weed trees, but this pics didn't match. Still searching

4/7/2014 12:22:13 PM

it looks like a variety of Magnolia (sweet bay?) to me based on the leave shape and structure, but that's all i got.

[Edited on April 7, 2014 at 12:29 PM. Reason : .]

4/7/2014 12:28:25 PM

throw those leaves in your soup

4/7/2014 12:33:34 PM

yeah if its sourwood you should shit your pants in short order

4/7/2014 12:44:20 PM

This is Ligustrum japonicum, which is a highly naturalized/invasive plant in the south. the escaped type has this drooping leaf habit, particularly when it grows in the shade (since you will google pictures and see pictures of the horticulturally preferred erect leaf type grown in full sun).


birds will eat the berries and plant them all over your yard if you decide to keep them. you've got to dig out a large part of the root system, since any large roots you may leave can re-sprout.


If you want some year-round greenery in their place, I say go for some camellias or sasanquas.

4/7/2014 12:54:19 PM

^Thanks, did you say horticulturally preferred erect leaf?

I just looked, I'm still not 100% sure on that, and theres no others around, so it's not spreading around and it's been there a while. And it has no berries that I can see.

[Edited on April 7, 2014 at 1:36 PM. Reason : a]

[Edited on April 7, 2014 at 1:37 PM. Reason : a]

4/7/2014 1:34:41 PM

the berries would come in the summer/fall following very small white flowers, but small bushes in the shade often don't get enough energy to fruit.


You've already stumbled onto the biggest obstacle of identifying plants, which is that they must be in flower or fruit to make a true positive identification. In the meantime, you should post a better picture of the leaves. cut a branch and lay it on a piece of paper or another solid background with some of the leaves flipped over, and host it somewhere besides TWW. It's hard to see much besides opposite leaves, a white mid-vein and ovate leaf shape, and an acuminate leaf tip.

4/7/2014 1:47:03 PM

Ok here are the leaves





Also here you can see the tree faces directy East and receives direct sunlight 90% of the day, and it never has a flower or a berry.

4/7/2014 2:01:44 PM

it's definitely some species of Privet. does a leaf snap in half when you bend it? I still can't tell the scale of the leaves. could be a Glossy Privet if the largest leaves are much over 6 cm in length and the leaves just bend, rather than snapping in half. If they snap and are 6 cm or less in length, you've got a Japanese Privet.


something facing east with a fence taller than it is behind it, underneath more mature trees is definitely not getting full sun for 90% of the day. This is a part-sun situation, if you're looking for replacements.

4/7/2014 2:17:34 PM

It does look an awful lot like a Japanese Privet, the only difference is that it doesn't get those white flowers. Trust me when I tell you that it gets a lot of sun. Keeping fescue grass alive in the summer in front of it is no easy task.
I read that Japanese Privet is an invasive species, is that right?

[Edited on April 7, 2014 at 2:28 PM. Reason : a]

4/7/2014 2:27:36 PM

FFS, if that's privet, you better get to choppin.

4/7/2014 4:00:33 PM

I think 3 seconds of googling could have gotten you this page, but i'm throwing it out there anyway

http://www.ncsu.edu/goingnative/howto/mapping/invexse/privets.html


Japonicum and lucidum aren't nearly as horrible as common privet, but you can see even in your picture that the rootsprouts have already started with this individual. you could decide to keep the plant if you're committed to keeping it a manageable size by pruning annually in the fall/winter, removing flowers before they turn into fruit, once the plant starts producing them. but let's face it, at some point it may become a nuisance if you don't put all that work into it, and at the point you decide to remove it, you could have had a truly desirable plant getting established and growing in the meantime.

4/7/2014 4:32:51 PM

After a long discussion with my wife, we've decided to sell it. Bidding starts now and will end tomorrow at 8pm.

4/7/2014 5:06:48 PM

it's like a ficus...or a rubber tree plant

4/7/2014 7:35:40 PM

pretty plz

the whole plant feels velvety

6/23/2014 2:05:27 PM

Google image search brought up a lot of promising results...

6/23/2014 6:16:49 PM

none that look like the plant in question to me

6/24/2014 12:10:20 AM

winged sumac?

6/24/2014 11:59:00 AM

try /r/whatisthisplant

6/25/2014 11:30:58 AM

^^most def

6/25/2014 11:39:54 AM