[angelavdavis]

Hi all,

I have a mysterious plant/tree on my new plot which I hoped someone on here might be able to identify.

It is approximately 1m tall.

Here are the pictures:

 

I was originally told it was a fig, but it certainly isn't like any fig I know!

Any help would be appreciated.

[mumofstig]

the leaves look a bit like Paulonia, but why there would be one of them on the allotment I can't think 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia

[angelavdavis]

Thanks for the quick reply MoS, I am usually fairly good at recognising stuff, but this one had me stumped as I was expecting it to be a fruit or nut of some kind but I think you might be right. 

I think it needs to be dug up asap to be honest.  Especially when I saw that it usually grows 50-80 feet tall!

I was hoping it might be something like a cobnut but it just didn't seem right somehow!

[viettaclark]

Your first picture looks very similar to my hazel bush.

[shokkyy]

Yes, I was going to say hazel. I've got a couple in  my hedgerow and the leaves are exactly the same. Mine are a lot bigger though

[Paul Plots]

Yes, I was going to say hazel. I've got a couple in  my hedgerow and the leaves are exactly the same. Mine are a lot bigger though

It does look hazelish to me. 

[sunshineband]

Leaves look too velvety for hazel

I'm going with a small pawlonia

You can keep these as shrubs that are cut back hard every year, and then they grow massive leaves ------ maybe not at the plot though 

[allotmentann]

My immediate thought was hazel. I have three on my plot and a twisted one at home, the one I have in my garden has leaves exactly like those on yours. And even though it is a twisted variety, it does throw up several staright branches a year (which I remove), so i don't think the leaves rule out hazel as a possibility. I would let it grow and see what happens. If it is hazel you will have a lovely source of beautiful canes as well as nuts. I hardly ever use bamboo canes now. I get hazels popping up everywhere on my plot as the nuts seem to self sow (or squirrel sow) quite easily!

[savbo]

the way the shrub is branching doesn't look like hazel to me...it's missing those straight stems, and the leaves aren't finely serrated enough. But doesn't Paulownia have paired,opposite leaves?

sav

[Paul Plots]

The stems don't have to be straight to be hazel bent hazel stems  but you could be right. 

[penance]

Hazel only grows straight when in woodlands cover, it grows up for light.
When grown in the open it has a more bush like habbit.

Leaves look a bit big for hazel but hard to tell with nothing to reference against

[angelavdavis]

My immediate thought was hazel. I have three on my plot and a twisted one at home, the one I have in my garden has leaves exactly like those on yours. And even though it is a twisted variety, it does throw up several staright branches a year (which I remove), so i don't think the leaves rule out hazel as a possibility. I would let it grow and see what happens. If it is hazel you will have a lovely source of beautiful canes as well as nuts. I hardly ever use bamboo canes now. I get hazels popping up everywhere on my plot as the nuts seem to self sow (or squirrel sow) quite easily!

I have a twisted hazel at home so will take some leaves to do a comparison.  Will photograph and post back later.  Thanks everyone

[savbo]

stems are green looking too, not like hazel?

[shokkyy]

Yes, my hazels are part of my hedge and they grow like a hedge, thick and bushy. I've never used them for canes because they're not straight enough There are quite a few different varieties of hazel too.

[Paul Plots]

Here's a picture of a cobnut (hazel).... the leaves do appear quite serrated.