I took three pictures here that describe it better than I could. Yes, it is holding my ladder in mid-air. Apparently trees can't be trusted with ladders. I'm not sure if I should leave it there and bask in the laddertree's majesty or not. If it helps, it grew a root all the way across the concrete and into the dirt on the other side as well (it was no match for my 45-minutes-with-a-dull-hatchet technique). I don't know how it did that either.
Triadica sebifera. A highly invasive weed tree in your area, so one to be rid of if you possibly can - and reclaim your ladder in the process ;-)
I greatly appreciate the help. I'm now researching how to stop Chinese Tallow Trees and Google has been very helpful with that. I'm going to get a lot of different sources and opinions and see if I can't find something that will work (preferably without creating radioactive mutant insects in the process, but I also have a dull hatchet just in case).
