HELP ME ID THIS PLANT!!!!

Hi--Y'All----

Many of you know that i have shared many plants and seedlings with my Store manager, Donn, for 3 yrs. now.
That his whole garden is, likely, populated with MY plants! He always raves about everything.....
I have never seen them--as it would be unethical for a store Manager to invite a measly associate to his home...
Lots of ethics at risk here....

He has been asking me to ID a plant HE SAYS I gave him 2 years ago.....The one with red and green leaves....
I always say--"HEY! Take a picture of it so I can see! He never did!

Today--he brings in a tip of a branch to show me what it is. I have NO IDEA!!!!
He swears I gave him a root--and he planted it.....I still have NO IDEA!!! I debate with him--but he insists
I gave it to him. I DO NOT recognize it! Maybe I got it at a Plant Swap????
My 1st thought was that it was one of those "Weed Trees"--whose name starts with an "A" ???

SO! I put this limp cutting he brought to show me in someone's empty water bottle---and it revived----

Here is what he told me-----

--He swears I gave him a root to this plant 2 years ago
--It is a small "bush"--about 3'x3'--HE LOVES IT!!!!
--He has had it now for 2 years
--It does not bloom--just green
--It's new growth comes up red--then changes to green.
The stems are still red....
--Obviously--It is a perennial.....

Please look at the pictures to follow and see if you know what it is....
I told him that I would NOT have given him something I do not know the name of!
He says I did!

OK! Here is the view from the top of this small tip-cutting he brought to work today.

WHAT IS IT?

Here is a close-up of one of the leaves----

I thought it was interesting that between the leaves---there are smaller, tiny leaves hugging the stems....
Look here....

And--lastly--here is the stem of the cutting he brought....
As you can see--it is reddish.

My first thought was that it is a Joe Paye Weed----BUT--WHY would have I given him a root of this?????

Does anyone remember if I could have picked up a root of this plant at a Plant Swap in 2008???

Please give me your best guess.
If you cannot ID it--I will post this on the "Plant ID Forum"....

Thanks--Gita

Thats a local wild thing called Winged Sumac. I don't know if its available in any nursery--and if it is probably only one that trades in 'amntive' I think he confused this wild sprout with something you gave him.
It is pretty atractive but does sucker a lot. Good red color in fall.
Mystery solved -well the ID not how he got it.
Well he got it by bird poo.

Thanks Sally!

Does this get berries in the Fall? I am thinking the deep bluish black ones?
But--Donn said it does not bloom......hmmmmmmm

How else could it have been planted by "bird poo" ?

What does "amntive" mean?
G.

Could it be a staghorn sumac? It's bloom is a red cone like thing. It seems the squirrels pull the red cone off, they may eat it?
That could be another way the seed got in his garden.

Leaf Characteristics

broad, flat leaves
compound leaves
pinnately compound
margins toothed
leaflets similar in size and shape
leaves alternate
no wing-like projections
milky sap
Fruit Characteristics

other fruit (not cone, winged, acorn, or in pod or capsule)
naked, without husk or capsules
small fruits, 50 or more packed tightly together



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Staghorn Sumac
Rhus typhina
This small tree sometimes grows as a tall shrub. Its irregular crown is made up of a few stout, spreading branches. It often sprouts from roots and forms thickets. It grows in well drained to dry soils in open areas and old fields, at forest edges, and along roadways. The Staghorn Sumac is native to the northeastern United States and southern Canada. In Ohio it grows in scattered areas, and generally is absent from the west-central counties. Other than as an ornamental, the Staghorn Sumac has little value to people today. In times past Native American Indians made a lemonade-like drink from its crushed fruit. And tannery workers used the tannin-rich bark and foliage as a tanning agent.


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HAHAHA

"amntive' means I am a horrible typist and do not spell check my posts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meant NATIVE.

I think when people report "it does not flower" it means they have not NOTICED it, or the plant is too young to have done so, but another one nearby may well have flowered and made berries for birds to spread.

Hi obliqua,
The pic above shows winged sumac becasue you can see those wingy flaps on the side of the 'stems' (petioles) The two sumacs are very similar at a glance though. Look up winged or 'shining' sumac and see if that description doesn't seem pretty good for the above plant.

Sally, is winged sumac similar to alianthus - tree of heaven? It looks like alianthus to me. Either way, he'd better dig that thing up and hope he gets all the roots. It will pop up everywhere and it's impossible to get rid of.

I think if it was staghorn sumac he'd have noticed the blooms, because they get those blooms when they're pretty young and small.

Hart--
Alianthus was my first thought too---I just couldn't think of the name....Thanks---
I just called it a weed tree.....

I printed out many of the comments and will give it to my Manager today....
He thinks it is soooo beautiful! I bet he won't listen to any of this.....
Gita

If that's what it is, that explains where it came from. Not from you - those things pop up everywhere. I've been fighting them around our pond for years. I cut them down, they come back up with three new ones a few feet away. I cut those down and they come back up with three new ones each. I don't want to use herbicide that close to the pond and I can't dig them up - the soil's too rocky there.

Ailanthus altissima, Tree of Heaven (from Hell) does not have the wings shown in the photos. See photo #1 at http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/81453/ Additionally, a simple "scratch and sniff" can verify if it is Ailanthus. It does not have the common name "Stink Tree" for no reason. Odor is often characterised as rancid peanut butter. I think sally nailed it with her winged sumac ID.

Thanks David, I am absolutely sure of my ID as winged/ shining sumac--Rhus copallina
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/150188/

closeup by magpye shows the wings

This message was edited Sep 6, 2010 5:05 AM

Well--

I printed out many of your comments and gave the paper to Donn (my Store manager).
I also Googled more info while at work--and copied that out for him as well.
He was so surprised and now--confused as to what to do with this small bush he has. It is only 2yrs. old...
In the Google article it said they don't fruit until 3-4 years old...

All Donn kept saying is--"BUT! It is SOOO beautiful!!!"....
All I said was: "Well--It is YOUR choice!"....Dig it up NOW! I know he won't......

Every chance he gets--when we talk plants, he keeps saying---"Gita--I love you!!!"....
I just reply--"I love you too!"....

Gita

Isn't it great to have a fellow plant lover nearby??!!
If it looks beautiful t him thats all that matters to me. Keep it- the fall color red is super. When I first noticed it in the wild I thought it was so pretty it should be used in landscaping.