Weed identification help?

13 years ago

Last year I got a load of manure/topsoil mix. It was sold as "weed free", but that's another load of manure entirely. ;)

Anyway, it has weeds that I've never seen before. Most of it isn't very exciting - pigweed with leaves the size of my hands, exciting new goosefoot-type things, and more wild mustard than I care to mention. Curiosity is killing me on a couple though. They both stayed pretty small until the end of July (one of them even managed to hide beneath the snap peas without being seen), then grew a couple feet each in the week while I was on vacation.

This one looked like one of the wild sunflowers that dot the roadsides, so I originally let it be because bees love them, and there is a frightening lack of pollinators this year, probably because of all the water this spring. Anyway, the best I can figure is it's giant ragweed, but the leaves are completely different from any pictures I can find of it - these ones aren't lobed at all, and really look more like sunflower leaves. You can imagine my surprise when my 2 foot tall sunflowers turned into 8 foot tall monsters in a week. By the time I had a chance to cut it down, it was 10 feet tall. The stalks are not hollow. And the leaves smell when they're crushed. I can't place the smell exactly, but they remind me of markers or paint thinner or something.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4nS1DaRb8hI/TGmr-OIE9nI/AAAAAAAAALE/KsnGSGdsapQ/isthisragweed.JPG

The other one has a growth habit similar to chinese lantern, and gets the little cherry in the husk. The difference is that the flowers are purple and about 3cm across, and the pods and berry are boring beige. Of course when I wanted to take pictures, there wasn't a single flower open. One was hiding last year and I didn't find it until just before it snowed. Right now it's about 4 feet tall. I DO plan to pull it if it ever stops raining for long enough to get near it without being swallowed by mud. Sorry for the crappy pic, I couldn't get close and my camera didn't want to focus on any identifiable parts.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4nS1DaRb8hI/TGmr-AlKHbI/AAAAAAAAALI/tayS4mD-7Cs/mysteryweed.JPG

Thanks,

Vikki

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Comments (8)

marricgardens
13 years ago
The first one doesn't look like ragweed to me but it's hard to tell. Any chance of getting a picture of the foliage?
The second pic looks like lunaria. It goes by many names, money plant, honesty.
mamahoohoo
Original Author
13 years ago
I chopped the first one down already, but I'll see if I can find some leaves that aren't really wilted beyond recognition.

The second one definitely isn't a money plant. It has a "berry" in a papery husk like a ground cherry, but the only ones I can find with purple flowers are purple ground cherry, which is creeping and has purple berries as well.
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wlongon5b
13 years ago
The second one looks like Nicandra. It is also known as Shoo fly plant.
mamahoohoo
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, it looks like that's it! Thanks so much. :) Now I have to decide whether to keep it or not. I think I'm leaning toward the "not" side. It's pretty, but I'd prefer to have something non-toxic.
wlongon5b
13 years ago
Nicandra is an annual so it wouldn't survive the winter but it will seed down with all the seeds in the pods.
mamahoohoo
Original Author
13 years ago
Any idea how long the seeds stay viable in soil? If I was to pull it now, am I likely going to be pulling it every year forever from seeds that fell in previous years? Not that it matters, I'd just like to know how long to expect them to pop up.
swontgirl_z5a
13 years ago
We call the second one Apple of Peru. A friend gave me some a number of years ago and even though I try to pull them out I still get a couple every summer. I just cut all the branches off of one I didn't even notice beside my house until it was 3 ft tall and the stem was about 2 " in diameter. I couldn't pull it out by the roots because they were too big and would ruin something else. They grow so fast it is unbelievable. I wish I could get some other things to grow that fast. They are very easy to pull out when smaller though and if you don't let them go to seed you should be able to control them.
marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
13 years ago
I agree with the nicandra ID. I haven't planted any for a couple of years but one or two do turn up every year. As for the first one, i've had something similar come up in the garden, but not that tall. When i saw the number of "flowers", i ripped it out quick like bunny rabbit! LOL

Weed-free, eh? Are you sure it wasn't "free weeds"??