Here's a picture of a volunteer in my yard in Portland OR. Two of these sprouted up after I removed my lawn. Its leaves look rose-like, and it has thorns on its stems, but the stems branch alternatingly in a different way than roses do, almost as if there is no main stem at all. New growth is reddish brown. It's tough and very fast growing, so I need to decide whether to welcome it or go to war before it gets any bigger. Thanks for your help!
An Aralia, which species I'm not sure, perhaps Aralia elata. A suckering shrub or small tree eventually 4-6m tall. Big umbels of tiny white flowers in late summer or autumn.
Aralia elata is the common one here. Yours looks like a typical example of a root sprout of this species. A. spinosa is very rare in PNW.
