These grow wild all over here. There's a bunch in an empty lot next to the parking lot at my office. The leaves remind me of Bird of Paradise. It has small, pretty yellow flowers. It's either a tall weed or a small tree. Any ideas? Mystery Tree - size ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) This one is over 7 foot Mystery Tree - size of leaves & flower ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Just so you can see the size of leaves and flowers. Mystery Tree - Yellow Flowers ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Very pretty little yellow flowers. I even dug up a sprout and put it a pot... just in case it's something that's worth keeping!
Oh yeah... forgot one trait... the leaves fold/close up in the evening. I'm assuming to preserve moisture.
I have seen those along the roadside pretty much all my life, driving around Texas but also just thought of them as Mesquite. But the info you can find from one picture is amazing. Looking at the leaves it could be Mesquite tree, Locust Tree, Mimosa Tree or Golden Mimosa. The first three are native to Texas and grow all over the state. The Mesquite tree does produce yellow flowers but not like those, the Locust tree has white flowers, the Mimosa Tree has pink flowers, the Golden Mimosa has yellow flowers but nothing like the ones in the photo. There is also a native plant Retama Leguminosae Parkinsonia aculeata aka Horse-Bean, Jerusalem Thorn, Mexican Paloverde Also in the Pea family like the others, it has yellow flowers and leaves similar to yours. There are 4 species of the Retama growing north and south America. Oh and another tid bit I learned about one of the common names of this plant is that the name Jerusalem doesn't refer to the city but is a corruption of the Spanish and Portuguese word girasol which means 'turning toward the sun' All of these trees are in the Fabaceae aka Pea Family. They have similar leaves and produce pea pods after flowering. So now that you are thoroughly confused, you might send a picture to the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center and ask if they can ID it for you to be sure.
Toni... you're amazing! So much info. I will definitely send the photos along and report back what I find.
Wow, that is a lot of cool info Toni! I am so glad Cherylad asked the question! Really interesting. I would like to hear the final outcome on the ID.
Oh, oh, oh, I just found another member of the Pea family it certainly looks like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesbania_drummondii common names Rattlebox and Poison Bean...the beans are poison.
