On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:35:05 -0700, Oren wrote:

I've seen many hibiscus plants from Florida too Hawaii. Some in
botanical gardens. I'm almost certain it is not an hibiscus
Are you local to this or was it a vacation photo?

That's why I asked. The closest I can get was hibiscus (I now agree that
mulberry is out). I did look up poplar (aka tulip), but nixed it on the
basis of the leaves.

I snapped more picture of the whole plant (shrub/bush/tree?), in situ,
today as it is near where I live. You can see that it's 25 to 30 feet tall
but only about 4 inches thick at the trunk although it has many trunks
(almost like a hugely tall bush).

The new pictures (of the whole shrug/tree/bush?) are posted here.
http://img72.imageshack.us/g/whattreeisthis112.jpg/