butterfly garden mystery plant

[pamij]

I took over an abandoned butterfly garden at my school and this plant came up in the spring. It's virtually maintenance-free, growing in full sun in Houston. It's already 5' tall but has no flowers, yet. I would like to know if it's a beneficial plant for the garden. If not, it's taking up a lot of space and I want to take it out. Can anyone ID it for me? Thanks.

[SPOOK]

kinda looks like a bay tree

[Silver surfer]

Originally Posted by SPOOK

kinda looks like a bay tree

It is not a bay tree. Laurus nobilis. That has simple leaves that are shiny and are evergreen.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...a%3DN%26um%3D1

The shrub in the school has leaves in 3.
I cannot see the edges of the leaves. Could you please add another pic to this post which shows the leaf edge, veins and stalks.
An id may not be correct without pics of flowers, but can try.

[pamij]

The tree specialist at the local arboretum suggested that it might be an ash. My husband now thinks it's a wafer ash or hop tree. Still no flowers and it hasn't grown any larger. I think we'll leave it and see if next spring it produces any "wafers."

[Silver surfer]

Originally Posted by pamij

The tree specialist at the local arboretum suggested that it might be an ash. My husband now thinks it's a wafer ash or hop tree. Still no flowers and it hasn't grown any larger. I think we'll leave it and see if next spring it produces any "wafers."

I was looking at Staphylea trifolia. Common name Bladdernut.

staphylea trifoliata - Google Images

And Ptelea trifoliata.Common name Hop tree. This seems the most likely as your tree has alternate leaves.

http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/her...s/ptetri01.htm

Both have trifoliate leaves.

[pamij]

We're gonna go with hop tree even though it doesn't have a fragrance. Someone said that our Houston drought could have affected the fragrance.