the owner's grandkids called this a monster tree because of the large adolescent leaves. The tree produces mature leaves that are compound. This is in a garden of exotic edibles - but I don't recall what part of this one is the edible bit...
I too found this fascinating. I wonder if it is evergreen? Might it be Ailianthus sp. Maybe Ailanthus integrifolia? Ailanthus integrifolia(kf1d) PNGTreesKey - Ailanthus integrifolia Lam subsp. integrifolia Not having much joy on www getting facts. 3 lobed leaf .. looks like a bit like Sassafras. Sassafras tzumi? Berkeley Butterfly Blog: Sassafras Tzumu But how can it be to have such different leaves on one tree. Intriguing! Graft?
The private garden is Chuck Martin's near Hilo. He's a collector of exotic edible plants, including trees, as well as exotic tropicals in general. If this remains a mystery, I should try to contact him and hope that he remembers it. This is not a graft. When we were incredulous, he was emphatic that these were indeed juvenile and mature foliage. I'll look into Ailanthus; but quite sure its not a Sassafras, which I would have remembered.
If you do contact Chuck, please ask if he is willing to entertain visitors on my behalf. I will be in his part of the world at the end of January. I've done more searching for this mystery, still no conclusions.
The two images are of two different trees. The first is a fig (Moraceae) of some sort (note the warty stems, circular stipular scars and the calyptra covering the bud at the back). The second tree is definitely Fabaceae (note the pulvinus at the base of the compound leaf and the legumes).
Thank you Douglas. I have emailed the owner about this, asking about the identity and if I had gotten the story straight, but have yet to receive a reply.
Yes, it was surprising that the fig-like sprig and the fruiting branches were from the same plant. One kind of tree have popped up inside the other, so that their branches were intermixed. With genuinely dimorphic trees and shrubs you should be seeing the two different types of growth directly connected to one another. For example the shrubby, unlobed and flowering adult phase of ivy (Hedera) coming out of the tops of the creeping and climbing, lobed-leaf sterile phase growths.
I managed to contact the owner and resolved this matter. The immature leaf is of the Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus). The photo of the tree with its mature foliage actually has a vine growing in front of it (When he had pointed to the tree I mistakenly took the vine foliage to be the "mature" foliage.) I believe that the mature (unlobed) foliage can be seen behind and off to the side in the background. Mr. Martin mentioned that this species is supposed to produce the best flavored fruit of the breadfruit family.