Ok, more indications it could be Morus .... I finally found two scarce pictures of the bud on a Morus twig, one Alba, one Rubra.

http://www.una.edu/faculty/pgdavison/images/trees/twigs/morrubcm.jpg

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/courses/img/bot/402/Reference_Images/Morus_alba/Winter_twigs/Key_Features/Bud_leaf_scar_DK.jpg

Leaf scars and buds.... shows the bud is triangular, which is spot-on with my cuttings.

Not sure how I'm supposed to figure out which Morus it may be ... rubra?  nigra?  alba?  But yeah ... Think this could be it.

Jason,
i respectfully disagree about leaf shape in post 25 .

Here is example of weird leaf shapes 2 are young and one fully mature (the big one) yet all ficus carica that produce figs.

You may have to wait till your plant gets more mature this season i know i know its killing ya to know at this point and kinda messing with my head on this one,  im really hoping for you that it is a ficus carica and perhaps you have stumbled upon something new.
I figure they still find new species of bugs and all why not plants?
These pictures are not meant to confuse you more .

Jason:
I just have to chime in here. I'm, by no means, an expert either so this is just my 2c.

Back when I first saw this thread, I took a look at my dormant Mulberry tree in my back yard for comparison. The triangular shape of the buds are very similar to the sticks you first posted pics of. So my novice guess would be that it's more likely to be an oddball Mulberry than an oddball carica. Not saying for certain that it isn't a mutant fig but I'm leaning more toward mutant morus than carica.

The two things that have me leaning this way is #1; the dormant bud shape & #2; birds eat Mulberry fruit and deposit the seeds everywhere in their droppings (this oddball could simply be a result of seedling diversity). And yes, for those who don't already know, the seeds will survive the digestive tract of the birds.

And my disclaimer would be something like; [Please bear in mind that this is just MHO and a guess to boot.] 

Now for the big unspoken question: How long do we have to wait for a seedling carica or morus to bear fruit :-) !?

Keep us posted Jason.

Any chance of seeing some pics of the one you have in the ground? 

BTW Martin; Those are some very interesting pics. What fig variety is that one with the red leaf stems? Kind of a bonus to get to enjoy the figs from a tree that has attractive foliage too. 

satellitehead: I was looking at a mulberry I have and the leafs and texture of the wood is pretty much the same. Unfortunately, I am not able to provide a picture of it at this time. Perhaps, once it gets bigger I will post it.

I stand corrected.
After scouring the internet i kept coming up with mulberry leaf pictures that were more or less familar to me the typical heart or several lobe leaf shape.

When young my brother and i used to get in trouble eating mulberries as they would stain our shirts and hands as we had many mulberry trees in the neighborhood around this time my grandmother introduced me to the fig. (long story)

Anyways i ran across this picture that showed how wrong i can be
and is very similar in shape to your leaf .

I was absolutely wrong.

 here is picture of a mulberry leaf i never encountered.

http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/imgdown.cfm?img=5386955&res=3

Well, Martin, it had me fooled too.

The tree has been ID'd as Morus Alba, a white mulberry considered to be quite weedy in the USA.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/namegal/msg0421161625278.html?3

That thread at GW basically provides supporting evidence with pictures of seedlings. 

Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to be a dreamer!  But, on the upside, I plan to plant this along the row of other white mulberries that are behind my house, and now I'll have a free pot to transplant my Sal (Gene's) into ;)

Well now we know Jason. Thanks for the info but now I have a question. Why are mulberries hated so much. Next to figs they are one of my favorite fruits. In fact they are the first one to bear in Spring and I find them delicious. I have a tree in the corner of my yard that bears all I can eat plus a gazillion. We eat them fresh, juice them for jellies and to use in cobblers much like black berries. They make a very good wine also. The fruit are turning red now and I should be eating some in a week or so. Smacking my lips. The tree itself is a good looking tree with it's glossy heart shaped leaves even if it didn't produce fruit. "gene"

like figs, i like certain types of mulberries.  like figs, i normally like dark mulberries, black ones.  i like pakistan mulberries.

this is a white mulberry.  they're a dime a dozen, don't taste good at all, and spread like weeds.  you can't cut them down, they just grow back.  you cut a branch off, and 50 branches sprout in its place.

i certainly think it is a great fruit.  i just prefer figs, plums and cherries much more ;)

I would like to add back in the 60s mulberry trees were everywhere in chicago and the surrounding suburbs when they were ripe most kids were at the trees here and there including me and my brother. Just dont seem to see the mulberry trees anymore similar to the American Elm and the American Chestnut but thats another story altogether, although i have planted 2 American elms. We only experienced the very dark ones black in color, still to this day i never tasted another color type.
But them black ones were sure good, several years ago i had thought about getting a tree when them folks send out all them spring catalogs to the house and realized heck they have a Chicago mulberry or Illinois one i forget which exactly was mentioned heck i never new there was one called that.
One day i suppose when we move south i will relive that experience when i buy a dark type mulberry until then its just dark type figs for me.
Dark Type Figs i say !   ; )

Speaking of mulberries, I just picked up a geraldi dwarf from Bass.  Anyone know of a superior tasting one for NY that dosent get to be 30' or so?  Gene, what variety is yours>  Thanks in advance                                  ve










  f

ejp3, my tree is one I started by cutting of a local wild growing tree. From all descriptions it is a white mulberry. Now in mulberries "white" doesn't mean the color of the fruit, but has to do with the bud. My tree makes black mulberries. The berries also come in colors from white, pink, red and black.  A few years back while picking some along a bayou, my daughter and I ran across a tree that had white berries. I wanted some cuttings off of it when it went dormant but a clean up project took out all the trees before I could get them. The tree I have is a single short trunk that spread rapidly into a multi-branched tree with whip like branches. This make for easy picking because you can reach up with a hook and pull the long branches downward to reach the fruit. The tree is about 15 foot tall and about 15 foot across.  Here is a link to some info on mulberries that can help identify the different varieties.

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR_237.pdf

I've never seen a mulberry around here actually bloom (never seen flowers).  I've just seen the fruit.  All of our local (wild) mulberries fruit white, sometimes with a slight blush of red.

(I know little about mulberries)

The flowers just look pretty much like immature berries. My trees are loaded with them right now. I'll try to see if I can find a pic online, or just take a pic of mine when I get home later.

here's a pic

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Black_Mulberry_Female_Flowers.jpg

ejp3, I have Shangri-la and Silk Hope. I am not sure how they do up there, but I have been growing them down here for a few years and they make good berries.You can also prune mulberries very hard to control the size. Since they fruit from new wood you will still get berries when they break dormancy.

If anyone wants any, I have tons of rooted cuttings from both of my trees. I will trade for any good fig, or a pakastani mulberry. 

what a fun post :).

talk about a long and windy road ;)

John, how tall do your shangrila and silk hope get?  I have read of horror root stories of some of the larger mulberry trees on the gardenweb fruit and orchard site.

I have no idea. I cut mine back to about 8 ft every year, but I am sure they would get quite tall with no pruning. They are very vigorous. The little rooted cuttings I have will get to around 5-6ft by next fall.

So have you ever found what you have. I grew up west of Atlanta 40 years ago. I have been in your area at the zoo many time over the years. I have never seen a mulberry look like the pic you have posted. I moved out of GA a few years ago. Missed my mothers fig trees. So I had to get some.

Have a big smile to all