sooby said: It seems an odd place for a Rodgersia to pop up, whereas if it's from the tree there isn't much else it can be except an Aesculus of some kind I think?
That's the clue, it would make more sense if it was Horse Chestnut!
Can we see the bottoms of the stems? If they have grown from 'conkers' then the bigger ones will have been growing for more than a year.
I can't see any old stems at the bottom, it all looks to be new growth to the bottom. I don't really know if it would grow off the roots, some trees do. (I have Acacia dealbata doing just that after the big tree was killed by excessive cold in 2010/11.)
I do know that new stems will grow off the main trunk.
One thing I find odd is the way the smaller (younger) leaves point upwards, in Horse Chestnut they hang downwards as they push out of the buds.
Putting three together (I hope the owner of the internet photo doesn't mind). See the old stem at the bottom of my 2nd year seedling, the new growth has come from a fat tip bud leaving the 'tepals' of the bud behind but also with some going up the new stem.
https://www.google.co.uk/searc...
