Cleared out the dead zinnias today, this was healthy and happy under their edge. Stem looks like a young tree. I don't think I have ever seen it though it does look *vaguely* familiar.

Close up of a flowering tip -- can't tell if this is full bloom or not:


This is the whole plant. No others around. If it's a tree it needs to get gone from there; if it's a weed it might be a host for somebody I want to have around -- so have to know its name!


Thanks in advance.

Looks like the Mallow family.
Possibly Urena lobata?

I don't know what the plant is, sorry. Danita's suggestion looks like a good possibility. If you turn over one of the larger leaves and see two small glands that will help to know if your plant is a Urena lobata; look at the last photo here:
https://treasurecoastnatives.w...

Since the Urena lobata is from Asia it is a host plant for Asian butterflies:
Neptis hylas aka Common Sailer Neptis hylas found in India
Caprona ransonnettii aka Golden Angle found in Orissa, Nilgiris in southern India and on Sri Lanka/Ceylon
Odontoptilum angulata aka Chestnut/Banded Angle found in Asia
Spialia galba aka Indian Skipper/Indian Grizzled Skipper found in Southeast Asia

There may be some local butterflies that could adapt and use this plant but it is an invasive weeds with "sock-sticker" seeds so....

Thanks, @Danita, it pretty much does look like that, though the leaves are less deeply lobed than in some of the images (google) in others there seems a pretty close match. Followed the google-fu to a foraging newsletter called Eat the Weeds (y'all may want to check it out, it looks both current and accurate). Here's the article I found there: http://www.eattheweeds.com/cae...

So, I'ma let it grow til I can make a positive ID, and unless I see big issues, it can stay here. I suspect it will die in the winter. No idea if it will flower and make seeds before that.

One question though is that in the pictures, Urena lobata looks like it blooms under the leaves, and this thing is looking like it blooms at the growing tips. Huh!

ETA: @greene, thanks for the additional info, we cross-posted.

And. Even more info about its butterfly hosting role, thanks again!

Given the fact (?) that our global weather patterns are changing rather radically -- even the weather forecasters are now saying we are not going to have "normal" weather (can't recall where I read that one) -- and this is already affecting habitat and migration patterns of various creatures, noticeably, it seems less valid (in my very personal scheme of things) to remove plants that are native elsewhere (well, heck, they all are, so....)

Change in the weather, change in the mind, change in the garden. So it goes.

How pretty!
Ida guessed malvaviscus or kosteletzkya...
But only because I haven't seen caesar weed.
I'd totally grow it out...

I agree. Grow it out at least until you get photos and see the seed pods forming. If it turns out to be a "weed" you can yank it out later.

Just a heads up Kyla...... the seeds of this plant are more viable than anything you've ever seen. And they stick -- to everything, & I mean everything! If you don't want these all over your place then pinch to make sure no seeds can mature.

Ann, thanks! I am still not certain of the ID, and as yet there are no flowers and no seeds,but I will watch very closely.

As well, it may not be quite so viable this much further north than where you are. We may even get a first dusting of frost this coming week! Still, I appreciate the heads up and for sure will keep an eye on it.

The seeds of this plant contain a sort of built-in fertilizer...I read that somewhere.

crikey.

greene is correct. That info. was in that 1st link greene posted. It says:
Caesarweed has urease in its seeds, clearly giving them a kickstart at germination time. Urease-enhanced plant seeds are not rare, but even so, I dig the idea of a powerweed equipped with its own fertilizer-making enzyme. So often weeds have special means of establishment after their relocational skills plop them in strange new worlds.

Okay, just got a clear confirm of the ID from Green Deane, so I am going to say "solved" on this one. I think I will also let it grow, see if it survives the cold, think about pinching off seeds to limit spread maybe, but.... maybe there's a reason it showed up?

It looks so purposeful, growing there, where it wasn't before.

Thanks, all.

@flaflwrgrl, thanks for finding the link. I knew I read it somewhere and couldn't find my way back to it.

It will be nice to watch this plant grow and see what kind of pollinators it attracts.

Caesar Weed is terribly, terribly invasive. It has taken over parts of our preserves. I've even volunteered with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program to pull this weed. It's as bad as Air Potato or Kudzu. The seeds are burs that will stick to everything. I once came out of the woods with them from my hair to my shoelaces. They were even stuck to my iPod cover! The flowers are small and pink but I have not seen them attract pollinators. My neighbor behind me has these all over his roughly 10 acres and I'm trying to keep them from getting into my yard. I highly advise pulling it. I wouldn't even add it to a compost pile for fear of spreading it.

That does sound terribly unpleasant and unfortunate. Still, this is a much colder climate than where you are. I am going to watch it, at least for a while. Until it flowers, it cannot make seeds. Without seeds it will not spread. So it's okay for right now.

They just finished flowering down here so I don't know when they would flower up north. Just saying you might be waiting a while.

There are buds developing, shown in that first photo, so flowers should soon follow unless a freeze stops them.