I live in the Piedmont of NC.. Sone 7b.. Some pockets 7a.

At one time I had a 4 x 4 very dense yew and this unknown would grow right up through it -- every year like clockwork. Impossible to "pull." Well, we yanked the yew.....ground out its roots...and I thought that would be the end of this pest. Planted a row of gaura in its place.

Since I could not yank it, I used to clip it...and have brushed it several times with Brush B Gone.. but it persisted.

Thanks.

Any idea what it is?

Does it grow like a vine?

I wonder if it could be Goat's Beard (Aruncus dioicus)

More photos for comparison:
http://www.jeffpippen.com/plan...
http://www.serendipityrancher....
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/pl...
http://www.gardeningcarolina.c...

Yes..when snaking through the yew each year...but now it does this

I'm thinking pecan.

Rosie, are the leaves opposite or alternate? How tall will it get in 1 year?

Do the leaves feel kinda fuzzy on the underside? Young leaves may feel fuzzy-ish on the upper side?

Crush a leaf, break a stem. What does it smell like?

I just went out & took photos of a young pecan that the blasted squirrels gifted me with. I cut them off every single year & every single year they grow back. You can dig to China & not manage to get the things out permanently.

It does resemble a nut tree, and looks like pecan.

Rosie, this is a pretty useful site

http://resources.ces.ncsu.edu/...

Good eye Ann! I don't know why I didn't think of Carya ... we had C. glabra (Pignut Hickory) all over our property for years.

Rosie's tree does indeed look like a Pecan: Pecans (Carya illinoinensis)

Check out these photos for comparison: http://www.carolinanature.com/...

Thanks everybody !! I will go outside and inspect that growth a little closer. It sure looks like it could be pecan, but today when I pulled on it..it broke at the ground's surface real easily. Would a tree break off that easily? I think it should be woodier. When it was growing through the yew, I never could break it. I am going to wait for more growth and paint the whole thing..when that yew was in place last spring and summer..I could never get enough footing to trace it through the shrub and poison it! It sat at the edge of the stream.

The leaves do look like Pecan, but the fast growth rate reported does not sound like Pecan. Is there a faster growing relative it could be?

If it is not woody, could it be Elderberry? They certainly grow quickly enough to behave as you describe.

It could be an Elderberry, they do grow in N.C. and many other places in the U.S.
Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

You could take a branch to the local extension service and probably get an exact ID: https://orange.ces.ncsu.edu/

I have only had one rapidly growing ...branch...thatbImthought was a vine...but now that it is free of that yew...to emerge as it wants I can see it would have had side shoots.

If it is an elderberry it will eventually bloom and produce a spray of tiny berries.

I planted a bank of guara on an incline and this comes up in the middle. I think I am going to give it a good dose of herbacide - something I could only do in a limited fashion before