Hello friends,

I had a few of these growing last summer and not entirely sure what they were, I did not pull them out. I reckon they will come back again so I am hoping to know what they are so I can decide if I will let them remain.

Thank you all in advance!

It reminds me of Narrowleaf Cottonwood (Populus angustifolia), but that's just a wild guess on my part!

http://www.wnmu.edu/academic/n...

http://www.google.com/search?q...

It sounds like they died back all the way to the ground rather than just dropping the leaves?

Hi there Plantladylin,

I think that is close to what they looked like. These had a very upright growth habit and there were quite a few in the same general area. I thought perhaps they were a type of milkweed but then thought better of it.

Hi SongofJoy,

Now I am trying to remember if they died back or if I cut them. I THINK they died back. There is a pile of dirt there now so I need to clear it away.

Thank you both so much for your help with this. I just checked to see if I have other photos and I don't.

I am sorry I am not much help with this ID process but I do thank you both for your help.

Benny: LOL, I am not very good at identifying plants so that was just a wild guess on my part. I think you should leave this thread open for awhile to hopefully get more response. Maybe Janet (JRsbugs) will see it ... she's great at identifying all types of plants!

I feel there isn't enough to go on Lin! However, your suggestion does look good.

The plant looks more like a woody plant than herbaceous to me. Are you sure there are none there now? Maybe you did cut them back, or pull them out?

The location for Populus angustifolia looks to be close to where you are.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/...

http://www.pollenlibrary.com/S...

http://luirig.altervista.org/s...

As there was a group of them, that suggests there is a tree nearby which dropped seed. What trees are in the vicinity?

There is Salix amygdaloides, Peachleaf Willow, no wonder the leave reminded me of peach leaves!

http://www.arborday.org/trees/...

http://luirig.altervista.org/s...

http://www.cod.edu/people/facu...

Is it growing near water?

http://www.fnanaturesearch.org...

Oh, I'm so glad you came by Janet! I knew you'd be able to come up with more possibilities! Those leaves sure do resemble the peachleaf willow.

Hi there Janet,

Thank you kindly for all this help. Salix amygdaloides looks like a possibility.

I definitely did not pull them out but cutting them back is a possibility. I am going to have a go at moving the dirt this weekend. When the weather turned cold, I do remember they shriveled up, quickly. I do not have any tree near that matches what was growing. Then again, I bought the house only recently so do not have the full history of what grew here before. The soil where these popped up is extremely poor. The soil I placed over them is of better quality and was going to mix it in. As mentioned though, I am going to move it away so I can have a look at the plants again.

The ground is very dry and the only water that hit this area in the summer was from rain runoff.

Thank you so much for all the help!