Is this a tree or a weed? Please Help!

SClemons

When I first found and transplanted this it had three different leaves on it. One the three lobed leaf you see on it now. The tear drop shaped leaf you see on it now. The third was a right handed mitten shaped leaf that is no longer present. The leaves are rough top and bottom. The Stem or Trunk is turning hard and reddish brown with no fuzz at the bottom where it is the oldest. The upper part is fuzzy as you can see in the photos. If its a weed its not a common one here as I can't find any more of these any where I have looked and I am in the woods alot.

Muggs

Looks like a mulberry. Very weedy, messy trees, but some people really like the berries. Wood is hard and heavy, causes large limbs to snap in storms. I personally consider it a weed because I have to remove so many of them growing along fence lines and foundations, places where the wind blew the seeds and they self-germinated. They are probably the second weediest tree that I get to work on regularly, the first being Manitoba Maple (Boxelder). Again, it comes down to personal preference, some people do like them.

stargazer

I second the motion. Mulberry. I've only seen one in my life. It was loaded with berries. Yours looks more like a paper mulberry, instead of the red mulberry. Fruit described as "barely edible".

Another tree that you may see down your way with three kinds of leaves is sassafras. I think the leaves are not toothed, haven't seen one in many years. The bark on the roots has a strong "root beer" aromatic smell, very pleasant and the source of root beer flavor.

pagandisciple

SClemons,

it's Ambrosia trifida, or Giant Ragweed an herbaceous annual in the Asteraceae.

james

Bernard Keays

I agree with james it looks like something from the Asteraceae family.

Could it be a Japanese sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)?

__________________
Bernie