Hi all! I really need help identifying this thing. It's cropping up everywhere in my landlady's yard.

The major one is along a fence - It's nearly 20 feet tall! A 12-footer is about 3 feet away. One smaller one appears 10 feet away from the main, and it's growing from my house foundation. I keep it hacked back, but it keeps on coming. This guy is infected with woolly aphids, too. :(

There are 2 more about 20 feet along the fence - the landscape guy keeps cutting them back, but they are up to 4 feet or better within weeks. Dozens of small ones are growing out from under the patio and into the back yard - this is on the exact opposite side of my house from the woolly aphid-infested one.

The leaves are lobes and soft - not shiny. They're broad - the largest ones are much bigger than my hand. The edges of the leaves are serrated, but still very soft.

The stems are extremely woody, and it's much more like a tree. It is extremely heat and drought tolerant.

It's evil and won't go away! Need ID to locate best control methods. For some reason, images aren't uploading to GardenWeb, so please follow the link to my blog post of 3 photos.

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Evil weed tree