"This album is private. Please login." We can't see your album. In any event a picture
is worth a thousand words.....so how about getting
one and posting it for us to see?

Regards
Chris

Thanks, saltcedar. I was afraid of that.
I finally figured out how to make the album public -- I think.

My sketches, while perhaps not as anatomically precise as a photo would be, probably show the leaf pattern and plant configuration better than a lot of photos do. I don't have a way of getting a digital photo to post right now.

I think people who are familiar with this plant will recognize it from the photos.

Again, basic description:
~ basic leaflet is ovoid (egg-shaped) leaflets, but pointed, rather than rounded at the tip (like a beech leaf)
~ leaves are sort of kelly green
~ the leaves form various geometric patterns, ooccasionally square) patterns with each other

{{gwi:329140}}

{{gwi:329137}}

Pointy oval leaves in sets of three with white berries makes me think Poison Ivy, maybe?
Remy

Here is a link that might be useful: Poison Ivy page

Thanks for posting those images, saltcedar.

(How did you do that? The direct linking html I've tried here doesn't work for me.)

The top one is a configuration of several clusters of leaves, each cluster being arranged in a triangular pattern.

The one below it is a group of three 3-leaf clusters, itself arranged in a triangular pattern.

Right below that is a duplicate of the top drawing.

The sketch at the bottom shows a typical arrangement of 3 leaves, the outermost being largest, with the 'berries' at the base of the grouping.

-----------

Remy, the individual leaves are shaped much like the poison ivy leaf -- also a lot like the leaves of the hibiscus in a nearby yard -- but their configuration isn't. Also, the berries (if that's what they are) are pale green, not white.

(Also, for what it's worth, I've often touched this plant, including picking one cluster of leaves today and handling it a lot while trying to describe it accurately. I know some people are immune to poison ivy, but this plant really doesn't look much like poison ivy to me anyways.)

Poison ivy would be rare to absent in Portland.

Beyond that, can you post a photo? If you don't have a digital camera, perhaps borrow one? Close-up and overall would help.

Eventually I'll probably be able to post a photo, jean. (Could be a while.)
Meanwhile, I was hoping some people would have at least SWAGs* that I could then check out via Google, etc.

Any suggestions of plants you know that resemble my drawings, even if only in part, would really be helpful.

Thanks.

*scientific wild-ass guesses

I just copied the HTML Tag and pasted it directly in
the body of the message.

HTH
Chris

It reminds me a bit of Bunchberry(Creeping Dogwood), but I don't know if it gets that tall. Just my usual shot in the dark...

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornus canadensis

Might be Solanum diphyllum, Twoleaf Nightshade.
The berries aren't white however.

Here is a link that might be useful: Solanum diphyllum

saltcedar, when I paste the URL directly into the body of the message, it just shows as HTML code, not as a clickable link.

noinwi, that's not it, but thanks for the suggestion. The upper leaf surfces on this plant is matte, not shiny, and the leaves are more eliptical than the dogwood leaf. They really do look a lot like beech leaves but a bit more eliptical - a somewhat slender oval with a sort of pointed tip.

Click the link below for a pretty precise image of what the individual leaves of my plant look like. (I started with a photo of a beech leaf and edited it to conform to the shape of my mystery plant leaf.)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:329141}}

Saltcedar, the leaves on my mystery plant are slimmer and less shiny than the solanum diphyllum leaf and they have a sort of serrate edge that's a bit 'curly' (See the "My mystery plant leaf" above. The 'berrries' have remained pale green for at least 2 months and they are shaped more like tiny peaches, not simple spheres.

I do appreciate the suggestions.

Genie, from photobucket you want to copy and paste the line that says "HTML tag" (I think there are 4 choices of things to copy and paste, it's the 3rd one listed in the list of four).

Could've sworn I've already tried that, esh, but I'll try again. Thanks.

Mystery plant leaf: {{gwi:329141}}

Cloverleaf pattern of leaves on mystery plant:

Mystery plant leaf cluster with green peach-shaped berries:

ETA: It seems to be working this time. DK why it didn't before when I used the same HTML code -- except that I inserted the label in between the > and the . Guess that was the problem.

The basic 3-leaf (sometimes 2-leaf, occasionally 4-leaf) cluster often has additional, much smaller leaflets below or between the main leaves. (I don't know what you call those, so I'll call them "grace leaves" - sort of like "grace notes" in a music score. ;) )

Here's a more complete drawing:
Mystery plant trifoil with berries and 'grace leaves':

What's the color and shape of the stem(s?) at the base, and does it appear to be woody or herbaceous? Could you draw up the stem arrangement as well? Does the plant look annual or perennial, is there a chance it could have been there since last year? Do the "fruits" look anything like {{gwi:329142}}?

With a picture you'd probably have this id'ed within a couple of hours... Your drawings are excellent, but the smaller details in a picture are often necessary.

Euphorbia dentata?

Here is a link that might be useful: Toothed Spurge

Wow! Yep, that's it, saltcedar. Thanks so much.

(I'd have had trouble getting a clear image of the stems because there are so many other plants (mint, hyacinths, etc.) growing close by. And I was having trouble figuring out whether the reddish stems are "woody" or "herbaceous.")

Hmm, now that I know that it's a spurge, I wonder if I should keep it around. It really is pretty, but is it likely to become the type of pest that spotted spurge is?

Euphoria Dentata (Toothed Spurge) 'berries' (seed pods?):

Euphoria Dentata (Toothed Spurge) leaf cluster:

Euphoria Dentata (Toothed Spurge) - full plant:

Thanks again, folks!

Error: It's "euphorbia," not "euphoria." (Wish I could edit my post if I discover an error later.)

And I found out that, not surprisingly, it's closely related to the poinsettia and sometimes called " Poinsettia dentata."

Toothed spurge (Euphorbia dentata) is a member of :

 Euphorbia, genus Euphorbia  The Euphorbiaceae are a very large genus of diverse plants all of which have milky juice

It is an annual weed of northeastern North America and the Southeastern Yukon (but it obviously grows in the Pacific NW US too).

More info here: Euphorbia dentata Michx.

Family: Euphorbiaceae

More of the scientific description:
Stems - From a taproot, multiple from the base, branching, erect to ascending, herbaceous, sparsely papillose-hispid and pubescent, to 60cm long(tall), terete, with milky sap. Some of the hairs are multicellular.
(Most of this is Greek to me, as I haven't taken botany in over 30 years.)

Leaves - Mostly opposite, petiolate. Petioles to +1.5cm long, pubescent as the stem, with a shallow adaxial groove.
(Here's what I've been calling "berries.")
A small cluster of minute glands is often present at the base of each petiole. The glands often brownish. Blades irregularly dentate to subentire, ovate to narrowly lanceolate, to +3cm broad, 8cm long, pubescent above and below, dull green above, bluish green below.

Pressed leaves. (Not sure what this means.)

Inflorescence - Terminal bracteate cluster of cymules. Pedicels to 1.5mm long, glabrous.

Inflorescence.

Flowers - Involucre (at anthesis) whitish-green, 3mm long, glabrous, 5-lobed, with a single cupulate nectary, (nectary green, to 1.2mm long). Lobes fimbriate and often with a pinkish tinge. Ovary green, glabrous, 1.2mm in diameter (at anthesis). Styles 3, white, glabrous, spreading, to 1mm long, divided nearly to the base and appearing as 6. Anthers bi-lobed, yellow, .5mm broad. Filaments white, glabrous, distinctly jointed in the apical 1/4. Stamens +/-30 per flower. Capsules 3-lobed, glabrous, 3-seeded.

Flowers.

Flowering - July - October. (Aha! That's probably why mine are still pods and haven't flowered yet. Maybe it will flower this fall.)

Habitat - Prairies, glades, waste ground, disturbed sites, roadsides, railroads.

Origin - Native to U.S.

Other info. - This species is found throughout Missouri. The plant is fairly inconspicuous because of its indistinct flowers.
It is closely related to the every popular Poinsettia that many people like to buy around the winter holidays.
Be careful with the sap of this plant and most from this genus and it can be irritating to the skin and eyes.

----
So I still haven't figured out just how invasive it's likely to be, but I'm going to try it as a houseplant. Check out the top picture on
this page.

So glad to find out what it is!

It's an annual, so life as a houseplant is limited :-) It is also listed an invasive species as close as Idaho, so not a plant one should be encouraged to grow. Especially as there are SO many hardy, noninvasive and far more attractive euphorbias on the market from which to choose.

What you see as peach-shaped fruit are the seed pods that form after flowering, similar to caper spurge, Euphorbia lathyris.

Where in Oregon are you located? The only area in Oregon that comes close to a zone 10 is the Brookings area, generally listed as a 9b.

Thanks for the tip, gardengal. I'm wondering, is it invasive via its seeds spreading or via underground offshoots? If it's the former, it might be controllable in garden patches that border the lawn, which is kept mowed.

I'll check out related, more "domesticated" euphorbias. But with poinsettias, for example, I haven't had much luck keeping them alive as houseplants.

As for the "peach-shaped" seed pods, I see now that they're really more multi-lobed than that. And I guess the flowers are so teensy that I didn't realize the plant had already flowered.

I am in Portland, which, according to the zone map I found, is in Zone 10. If this plant can survive in states like Nebraska and Michigan, as well as the SE Yukon, I'm not surprised it can survive here. Our summers are longer and - it may surprise you - often very dry for weeks, even a couple months, at a time. But we get about the same annual rainfall as places like New York and Iowa.

I really do think it's a very pretty plant - especially as "weeds" go. I guess the triangular configuration of leaves is not "standard," but my volunteer euphorbia dentata has so far tended to arrange its leaf clusters in triangles and, occasionally, squares. The patterns remind me of a kaleidoscope.

Certainly a more welcome spurge than its relative the spotted spurge (which plagues my mom's driveway and garden in So. California.

Here's a better picture to show what the plant looks like (without all the other weeds in the background):

At the back of my house lot there's an area that tends to get overgrown with both grass and much more gangly weeds (e.g., Queen Anne's lace). I think this would be an improvement, if only because it tends to grow lower to the ground.

{{gwi:329143}}

genie, I am very familiar with the Portland climate - you are only a couple of hours away and I visit there often. I was there last week :-) Mine is very similar but milder - not as cold in winter and not as hot in summer. And equally as dry. But a zone 10 is a frost-free zone and generally associated with areas like coastal southern California and parts of Florida. I'm not sure what guide you were looking at but the USDA rates the Portland area as a hardiness zone 8.

Euphorbias are an extremely large genus of some 2000 species with widely differing appearances and growth requirements. Some are common weeds - like your volunteer - some are exotic semitropicals like the poinsetta and the vicious looking cactus types (crown of thorns) but there are dozens of others that make wonderful and hardy additions to the landscape. Often evergreen, they offer a range of foliage colors and generally bright chartreusey-gold flowerheads. Portland area nurseries should have a good selection in stock that would be excellent replacements for your weedy one.

Thanks for setting me straight on my zone, gardengal, and for the info on euphorbias. Yeah, when I googled "euphorbia" and "euphorbia dentata" I found that plants as diverse as the spotted spurge, poinsettia, crown of thorns, and Mexican firebush are all in that genus.

The main advantage to my volunteer, if there is one, is that it probably won't require a lot of maintenance. I have several "weeds" or "flowerbed escapees" in my yard -- campanula, phlox, amaranthus, red clover, mint, vinca minor, several mallows, yarrow, Queen Anne's lace, violet, columbine, alkanet (borage), hyacinth, arum Italicum, etc. The only ones that have really been a problem so far (besided the ubiquitous dandelion, plantain, Himalayan blackberry, and morning glory) are the alkanet (very invasive), and the Queen Anne's lace, because they are hard to pull up. Maybe my arum Italicum will become a pest, but it's a newcomer, as is this toothed spurge. Most of my weeds/wildflowers are easy to pull up if they spring up in unwanted places. At least this euphorbium dentata had the sense of propriety to sprout in my flower bed (at the end where it can do battle with the mint and the hyacinths). :-D

Here's a better image of a euphorbia dentata plant to show how pretty it can be. While it's pretty much all green, it ranges from a rather dark green to very pale green, almost white, and in places has traces of yellow. Its coloring is much more subtly varied, shaded and textured than the last picture I posted would indicate. (I retouched the photo a bit to make it look more like my plant.)