No, in Tennessee :) My father's family comes from there, though.

First might be one of the Carya (hickory) relatives - maybe walnut, etc.

Second I think is a Uvularia (lovely woodland native) of some type.

And, yes, last one is a viola - not sure which one or if it's one of the native violas.

Yes the 2nd is Uvularia. Probably perfoliata

The first one is a hickory, perhaps bitternut hickory, Carya cordiformis, not walnut. I agree that the second is Uvularia perfoliata and the third is a violet, but you might have to wait until it blooms to have it IDed. The first two are native, the third needs to wait until you have an ID since there are native and non-native violets.

Thank you all for the ids. Its very helpful! There's lots of things growing near there that I know I want to take out (poison ivy, virginia creeper), but looks like I'll let these keep going.

NHBabs, what are the differences between the native and non-native varieties? Is either one invasive?

theoretically all viola are invasive.. if not technically ... then physically ...

they are great in a open filed.. just introduce them to a garden .. lol .. been there.. made that mistake ...

ken

Wrong. All Violas are not invasive! Viola pedata, for instance, does not produce cleistogamous buds.

Well, I'm tempted to let these stay. They don't seem to be out competing much where they are. And, my wife loves them. But, I'll keep watch this year and see if they are wanting to get out of control.

It's just so different here than where we moved from. Everything seemingly grows well in TN.

I say the first is is Carya ovata, shagbark hickory especially if the 2nd picture was taken in the same general area. Husks and nuts are to be seen on the ground and they look very shagbark.

Violets are mostly seen in the spring of the year in lawns and throughout the year in shady locations. They are no where near the villains ken says they are.

FataMorgana

Oh boy if your little tree is Shagbark Hickory then you probably have big Shagbark Hickory trees nearby .You are in luck if you want to harvest the nuts . They are delicious albeit a little bit of work to get out of the shell. I harvest hickory nuts every year and use them in place of walnuts in baking. Oh and as to violets . They are prolific but I would rather violets in my gardens than dandelions !

Signet

Judging by the number of those huge nuts we had around last fall, I think you're right! I didn't know they were hickory, and I didn't know they were edible. Learning more every day. There is another tree that has big round nuts like that, but they aren't segmented like the hickory nuts. I will have to do more research!

I have to say, you all on this forum are amazing! I've looked through many posts now, and the level of knowledge and helpfulness is truly extraordinary.

Thank you!

There's even a couple of nuts muscling into the background of the Uvularia picture ;-)