please help identify this plant

I remember an old party chief teaching me: oak, pine and non-oak/ non-pine 🙂

I don't rightly know this one, but it looks magnolia-like (although, the leaves aren't as waxy as I'm used to in the southeast).

I*m guessing some type of rhododendron.

The Rhododendron genus (of family Ericaceae) is my guess as well, they're a common ornamental shrub with alternate evergreen leaves. Impossible to key out without a mature flower though. There's a couple hundred species, some common ones are listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron

Here in Wisconsin, we can't remember green plants..........

Pick one: Green Tree, Dead Tree, Pine Tree, Gum Tree.

Looks like a Green Tree to me.

Same here in Arizona, but for a different reason...

I spent about two hours going through my college dichotomous key textbooks and a hand full of identification websites to no avail. I have submitted this challenge to my fellow Redditors in the /r/whatsthisplant subreddit. Should they have any input, their responses can be found here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisplant/comments/202w2w/please_help_identify_this_plant/

Send your pic to a local nursery or Landscape Arch.

Heteromeles arbutifolia?

My guess only.

Heteromeles arbutifolia?

Try the Leafsnap app for iphones.

Looks like a type of Ligistrum.

It is a weed

The old farmer identification system boils down to this. If it generates an income for the landowner, it is a plant. Everything else is a weed.

Looks like some sort of camphor tree/bush. In FL they are usually trees but can be formed into a beautiful hedge. B-)

and the answer is

It is a weed

And for the gardener the test is; Pull it up, if it comes back it's a weed.

Andy