A shot in the dark - maybe this small leaf came from a perennial like heucherella?
hortster

I wish it was that easy. It's possible there are some of those nearby, but looking at pictures of them, their leaves are very different. They look more like the Acer Rubrums nearby. The lobes on the leaf I found are significantly more pronounced than anything I can find online or in the books I've looked at.

I know it's a tough one if this group is pretty much stumped!

vince

The occasional non-standard leaf is not uncommon. This may have come from a tree that normally has leaves that are not so deeply cut but still has the same basic shape. Like a norway or silver maple. The red maples near me can vary in shape a fair amount from tree to tree, and the cultivars or hybrids with silver maple even more so.

I would bet that nickel and penny your leaf is from a cannabis plant. More than likely C. indica which is not native, one of your neighbors must garden indoors.

Looking at images of C. indica online, they are very different, pinnate? than this leaf, which looks more like a maple leaf but with more clearly defined lobes.

Global, I'll bet you a million dollars and a penny that this leaf is not Cannabis.

Your leaf shape is palmate(possibly digitate) with palmate venation in my opinion. Not the best sample for positive i.d or (large)wagers. Cannabis is arguably the most hybridized plant in history, which could lead to an endless amount of leaf variance. I guess we shall never know for certain, thanks farmboy for sharing this puzzling specimen.
Rhizo, I don't have a million dollars but my last bet stands. Your confidence does make me curious, do tell, what knowledge is your basis formed upon?

Your leaf shape is palmate(possibly digitate) with palmate venation in my opinion. Not the best sample for positive i.d or (large)wagers. Cannabis is arguably the most hybridized plant in history, which could lead to an endless amount of leaf variance. I guess we shall never know for certain, thanks farmboy for sharing this puzzling specimen.
Rhizo, I don't have a million dollars but my last bet stands. Your confidence does make me curious, do tell, what knowledge is your basis formed upon?

Malva species

This post was edited by nicethyme on Mon, Feb 4, 13 at 8:02

I checked google for images for Malve and Althea, and did find one Althea Rosea "Queeny Purple" species pictured that looks very similar. Don't know how well the long link below will transpose, so I also copied the image and attached it;

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vanbloem.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-482.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vanbloem.com/index.cfm?fuseaction%3DPLANTS.plantDetail%26plant_id%3D482&h=250&w=250&sz=22&tbnid=Z3Gq5kPrwldNKM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=95&zoom=1&usg=__1oRFvgppUI0Ya1T-biol9f_NEHI=&docid=IGUnDaaxj8YvHM&sa=X&ei=j9EPUcP8GseEyAH17IDYDw&ved=0CEgQ9QEwBg&dur=1345

This makes sense, as while the Hollyhocks I have were long gone and the leaves were very different, the leaves in the image at the link are a good fit. It could very well be from some other sort of flower, but I didn't see anything in the Malva family that was close.

As for Cannabis, there aren't many neighbors nearby, and I don't see the ones near as the type to grow anything indoors; if they wanted it, they could easily buy it from some other source. Me, I can't stand the smell of the plant, but wish it would be legalized to avoid wasting so much on enforcement and allow the states to make tax dollars to avoid raising taxes.

vince

Your leaf margins are serrate, A. rosea looks a bit more undulate. The petiole length of your leaf also seems disproportionately longer, even to the lower larger growth of A. rosea. Sinuses are not quite the same either.