Anyone know what this is? It has been coming up all over my lot for a few years, and now some are getting into small tree size. Looks like the holly family, but does anyone know specifics? No thorns.
ID please
I don't know about the first picture but the second one looks like Live Oak.
Second picture looks like an "American Holly" shrub to me ...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73588/
I did remove a few of these shrubs years ago and those little seedlings keep popping up in that area still ...
Josephine, it's all the same plant. The leaves are more pointed on the newer growth, but they round out with age. It's also not American holly--it's nothing anyone would want to plant. Well, except the birds, I guess, because that seems to be how I got it. I have never seen flowers or berries on it, but it must have some. Anyway, it's a real pest.
ilex vomitoria? yaupon holly... they grow native in south Tx, nuisance there too...
No, it's not yaupon... although I have plenty of that too. Really shocking all the places it comes up. But at least I planted that one myself!
Not yaupon. yaupon holly
Ugh. my fault. tired that is yaupon. sorry. does it have any berries at all? We do have hollies, but they are tree size and scattered- dont know proper name
It could be a hybrid of the two live oak types found in Texas — Quercus virginiana and Quercus fusiformis. The leaf shape and size varies considerably depending on the percentage of each found in the hybrid. Differences among live oak leaves can be seen even within a small area.
http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=2088
http://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/quercusvirginiana.html
Jo? All oaks have leaves attached to the stem in a whorled pattern as they go alonng the branch. Resin lectured. There are oaks with prickly edges, but the leaves aren't attached flat.
Well, it still looks like a live oak to me, I will take a picture of one tomorrow, in the meantime check this one;
http://wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=24043
I guess it could be live oak. I didn't realize they had those little points on the leaves when they're young. These don't look at all like the live oaks I have seen, but then I typically only notice the old, big ones.
Whatever it is, I need to find out how to get rid of it. They are coming up all over the place, don't pull up, don't flinch at being chopped down, and will seriously hurt my garden if I have to get a real shovel and dig. :(
Maybe I can dig one up and bring it to the RU.
With all the ways that pbtxlady describes this plant's behavior, it doesn't sound like an oak, but...
If there are so many of them that they are pestiferous, then dig some of them up and bring them indoors or some place that you can take more images of all their parts. Those two pictures above don't provide a lot of information.
It would be helpful to see where the leaves attach to the stems, what the buds look like, etc. If you have some that are getting to be small trees, pop them out. They should have all the parts necessary to ID.
Smallest ones would likely still have the acorn parts attached to the root system/stem if these are oaks.
By that way on that: is there a Live Oak nearby? If so, that might answer all these questions...
I don't know of a live oak nearby, and I never see live oak acorns on my lot. But of course that doesn't mean there aren't any. However, there aren't any acorns on these plants. Most are tiny, because I chop them down as soon as I find them, but I found a tall one (5 feet or so) hiding in the crape myrtles, and it had no acorns either.
I was referring to the way oaks sprout from acorns. As new emergent seedlings, if one was to pull one up - one would find the remainder of the acorn at the base of the stem and the top of the root system.
If you don't know of a Live Oak tree nearby capable of producing acorns (which could be buried/planted in your yard by squirrels or birds), then it isn't very likely that this is an oak unless you have mischievous kids or neighbors tossing handfuls of acorns into your garden.
Also: some of your description makes it sound like this might be a colonizing species, where you have multiple stems arising from the root system of one original plant - like Sumac, Oregon Grapeholly (Mahonia), shrubby dogwoods, Kerria japonica, etc.
That tall one - collect it and photograph to with an inch of its former life. That should divulge plenty of ID information.
O.K. this is what my Live Oak seedlings look like they fall on my yard from my neighbor's tree and sprout everywhere.
Thats different, leaves whorl around the stem Jo, and I have seen an oakshrubs that sprouted from the roots of a grown oak. Do you see haw tbe leaves are attached to the stem? In steps that whorl around and down as they go on your oak? Jo? Her 2nd pic has the leaves from the stem in a flat line from the sides...
pbtxlady,
Regardless of what they are, if you can't get rid of them by pulling them up or cutting them at ground level and you can't dig them up without damaging your garden, then the only practical solution I can think of is to use an herbicide.
Roundup is easily obtained and disintegrates in the soil. To protect your other plants, make a tube out of cardboard or other flexible material to place over the seedling you want to spray. Wait for a calm day to spray. TAMU has some publications entitled Brush Busters that might offer other solutions.
http://essmextension.tamu.edu/publications/index.php
http://essmextension.tamu.edu/publications/publications-brush-weed-control/index.php
If the trunk diameter of the trees you want to remove is big enough, you could try the "cut and paint" method using something like Brush Be Gone. Cut the trunk a few inches from the ground and carefully paint the cut surface with full strength herbicide. You have to do this soon after you cut the trunk before the cut is sealed with resins produced by the sapling. Don't let the herbicide drip onto the ground. Most herbicides remain active for a while. Some more than others. Water will spread the herbicide.
I don't know what the plant is but that brown leaf in the second pic looks like a Pin Oak to me just sayin it must have came from somewhere
I have been picking up the little nuts I found under some Oak trees in Oak Cliff. My intention is to plant them, but thy are still spread out in my kitchen window. I wont live to see them mature, but that's OK, I will leave Mother Earth a better place.
Bring me some plants Patti, I will plant them. :)
Yeah, she has dead oak leaves everywhere, wonder if they were blown in, or carted in as compost? Definitely could have had acorns in added compost leaves. I think she may have an oak tree closer than she knows if they were blown un.
Kitt, I have a big red oak in my front yard, and when I get ready to compost the leaves, I actually spend days picking out as many of the thousands of acorns that I can. Then I run everything through a shredder. I do still find a lot of acorns when it's time to sift the compost for use. But they're all the big ones, from my (and probably the neighbor's) red oak.
All that said, the leaves on these little plants do look very much like Josephine's picture above.
Where did they come from? The problem area is a bed next to my driveway, backed by a retaining wall, which catches tons of leaves and debris from the wind and garbage collectors. There are also some mature bush-type crepe myrtles in the bed, and for some reason the birds just love those crepes. They contribute all kinds of stuff. This area was also pretty wooded before it was razed to build my development. It's been 25 years, but it's still possible just about anything could've been growing here all along.
Sylvia, if you want to grow trees, I will be glad to bring you some red oak acorns and sweetgum balls. I would dig up some of my sprouting red oaks, but I haven't had much luck transplanting them.
You are the best one to judge, chuckl. I know to transplant a cedar you have 1' of root for every 1" of aboveground plant... I dont know if oaks have the same root as a new cedar tho...
We have live oaks all around and for the longest time, I thought they were holly trees. When you pull them up, the acorn is still attached.