Help to ID Mystery Plant

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lchrein Lynbrook, NY Sep 21, 2015

Please see the attached images - this is a plant that has been sprouting in our yard on and off for a few years. We simply cannot seem to ID it… We’ve tried local garden centers, the Cornell Cooperative Extension in our area, local farms… no one has any idea what it is.

It appears to be some sort of tropical plant, though we are in New York, on Long Island. It first appeared right after Hurricane Sandy, which brought a number of different plant/weed species to the Island, mostly crabgrass of various kinds.

Please let me know if you have any idea what this may be.

Thumbnail by lchrein Thumbnail by lchrein Thumbnail by lchrein
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DaisyPlantLady Reno, NV(Zone 6b) Sep 21, 2015

It looks like a Papaya plant. You are right, it would never survive in your winters but they sprout readily from seed. Have you been eating Papaya?

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lchrein Lynbrook, NY Sep 21, 2015

Thank you! Yes - we've eaten papaya and probably composted the seeds... makes perfect sense. Odd that no one around here could ID it - but then it's not indigenous to this area. We're going to try to keep them alive indoors, as a house plant. The leaves are cool, though I don't expect fruit indoors. I see they grow to about 15 feet - we'll just top it off.

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DaisyPlantLady Reno, NV(Zone 6b) Sep 22, 2015

They are tough to grow as houseplants but with enough sun and heat, you can do it.

Daisy

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