Hope, I didn't meant to alarm you! LOL... It may not be that at all. But I always check my plants when the leaves don't look right...just in case. And since you just brought this baby home, a thorough inspection wouldn't hurt. To check for spider mites, here's a simple, quick method: Place a blank, white piece of paper under a leaf of your plant and shake, shake, shake or tap, tap, tap the selected foliage. Small specks of dust and debris will fall onto the paper. Get up close and personal with the fallen debris on the paper and watch carefully (make sure the lighting is good where you view the sheet). Dust and dirt donÂt move but mites do! If spider mites are present, you will see tiny specks moving across the paper. Check more than one leaf, even healthy ones, to make sure your plant is mite-free. This simple but useful method is a technique that helps detect the presence of mites that canÂt be otherwise seen by the naked eye. You can also check the plantÂs leaves, stems, axils, etc, for fine webbing, which is a sure sign of mite infestation. Again, this is just a precaution! And it's good to rule out any pests for your plant's sake.

After bboy posted, I talked more w/ my weed specialist hubby and we grabbed a copy of the book Weeds of the West. Had sure been hopeful it was a gorgeous blooming perennial I was cultivating, but alas....I'm guessing it's hairy fleabane. The plant looks very much like the one pictured in the book. Now it's just a matter of my allowing it to bloom to compare w/ the book's photo. That is if I really dare allow it to bloom. Not sure how it got here; not something which grows in this drier climate of Eastern Oregon. The book says it's a native of the American tropics & is common throughout CA. Thank you again to bboy; w/o your post I wouldn't have gone looking for it in the book. You all are most helpful.

OH! Stage_rat-- what timing for this post of yours!! I wish you had been at the Midwest Native Plant Conference in southern Ohio this weekend! You would have learned so much about exactly that (how native plants nurture our wildlife so much more effectively than non-native species)! I have not yet read Douglas w. Tallamy's book, Bringing Nature Home, but am going to pick up a copy ASAP. Here is part of the synopsis from Amazon: "There is an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife ― native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. When native plants disappear, the insects disappear, impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. In many parts of the world, habitat destruction has been so extensive that local wildlife is in crisis and may be headed toward extinction. "Bringing Nature Home has sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being, and the new paperback edition ― with an expanded resource section and updated photos ― will help broaden the movement. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical recommendations, everyone can make a difference." You must read this article explaining in detail why cardinals that are eating Amur honeysuckle berries (a food source that is dismayingly widespread now) are not as healthy as the mates they attract think: http://redandthepeanut.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-northern-cardinal-eating-red.html And be sure to follow the link embedded in THIS article to another from the website of the National Wildlife Assn. regarding non-native plants being ecological traps for birds (and, therefore, affecting all wildlife since EVERYTHING is connected to everything else in the Web of Life! And then take a good long look at the plants in your yard to see what you may need to remove and think what you may replace them with!! Another good book with lists of native replacements for horticultural nightmares sold so widely is author Sara Stein's Planting Noah's Garden. It has been out for some time, but has very useful information!

Not a crape myrtle, but don't know what it might be. What is the general location? I'm sure that someone will step up to identify it soon.