It had yellow, dandelion-like flowers???

Nancy.

The flowers haven't opened yet. I bet they will look like dandelion flowers, though. They look like they will be yellow. They're little tubes so far.

Sue

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) - that has gone to seed. :)

~ Annie

Intrigued by the topic heading, I had to see ... LOL, I just pulled what looks like the same thing out of my garden!
Are you sure about the lettuce, Annie? It looked awfully tough and prickly to me. It never really flowered. I kept watching those buds and they just got a little fuzzy, white cottony tip which quickly turned brown and then dried up. Finally decided it grew too fast and was too homely to be anything useful and pulled it (there was only one). Still would like to know for sure what it was, though. (We do have a 4000+ book horticultural library at work, and a staff of gardeners ... soooo, I suppose it would make sense to take it in for ID ... if I can remember as I scoot out the door in the morning.)

Diane

Annie,
It's not lettuce. I grow lettuce in my veggie garden, not the herb garden. Plus, I know lettuce, but not this stuff. I thought it may be a strawflower volunteer from the looks of the leaves and the way the blooms were starting to form on the ends, but the flowers turned out different, as you can see.

Sue

I know this weed, I've seen it around my place from time to time also. Curious, I did a Google search:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lettuc17.html

Sure looks like Annie nailed it.

...and here's a picture I just took of my lettuce going to seed, not great but it's dark out there. I should be able to harvest the seed next week. Slightly different shape to the seed heads but this is a cultivated variety.

Annette

Diane,
I am also in NJ and have this weed (just one) in my yard. Have no idea what it is but it seems like it came up out of nowhere about 2-3 weeks ago. And now it has a morning glory twisted around it! I would be interested in what you find out.

I am betting Annie is right; it is some kind of wild lettuce. Some are prickly. Do a Google search and you will see lots of pictures and descriptions.

Prickly Wild Lettuce, not the eating kind; Lactuca scariola or some other Lactuca species.

Lactuca sativa is Garden lettuce.

If it isn't Wild Lettuce, then check out Senecio vulgaris, or Groundsel.

I posted a link to an article on wild lettuce in my above post. You have to cut and paste the link, then click on where it tells you. Doesn't take you directly to the site.

Thanks for the replies. I think Nell's right about this being Groundsel. I'll know with more certainty when the blooms open. From what I'm reading, both the wild lettuce and senecio vulgaris have catepillars that feed on them.

Sue

I didn't know it can be an opiate. According to that article it's been used for centuries for that purpose.

Well, now I have to go out into the dark and retrieve what I can from the compost bin to take to work tomorrow; maybe I can get a definitive ID on this.

I walk the dogs down the road every day, and tonight I saw big patches of this stuff growing in the ditch and on the edge of the corn fields. Some plants are really tall. I never noticed it as much until now. And I took notice of something - some have prickly leaves, other plants don't.

agardenstateofmind,
I hope you can get an id on it. It's not exactly the same as the websites, except I think it does look like the Groundsel. I looked that up in my Weeds of Nebraska book, which is too thick to just find it quickly by the pics, and the kind of Groundsel in there was Riddel's, and it's leaves were different than this.

Here, I was wondering what would happen if each of us who had just one plant let them all go to seed. LOL I guess schoolhouse found out this evening.

Sue

common or stinking groundsel. Very common in waste or open ground.

I agree with Annie. To me it looks like a Lactuca, not groundsel. Senecio vulgaris has completely different leaves. If it is a Lactuca it will exude a white milky sap when broken or cut. Senecio will not. Can you remember if it did this when you pulled it up?

The blooms still haven't opened, and it does not exude sap. I can't tell from the photos of the common or stinking groundel, but I think I will be able to once the blooms open.

Thanks everyone,
Sue

groundsel

Lactuca scariola

Wild lettuce doesn't feel prickly. Sow thistle does though. Wild lettuce flowers look like a yellow chicory. Sow thistle looks like a dandelion bloom.

Thanks Libby,
For comparison, I have two photos that were taken the same day as the ones already posted. One is a close up of the bottom leaves, the other is from farther away. I still think it looks more like the groundsel. It looks like there are different kinds of it, as well as the wild lettuces.

Sue

Found it.

Botanical name Erechtites hieracifolia, common names pilewort and fireweed (though there is another completely different fireweed).

According to Peterson & Mckenney's 'A Field Guide to Wildflowers':

A homely cluster of brush-shaped flowers with no rays. The white disk flowers barely peep from the swollen-based envelope of green bracts. Stem grooved, strong-smelling. Leaves 2 to 8 in., toothed, alternate; very variable. 1-9 ft. See also Fireweed (Epilobium), p. 224. Thickets, clearings, burns. Minnesota, Quebec, Maine south. July-Oct.

I looked up the fireweed on p 224 and the flowers and leaves are entirely different.

Forgot to retrieve the one from my compost pile, which I will do as soon as I get home, because one of our gardeners says they seed like crazy. Which, thanks to schoolhouse, we already know :-) ... anyway, I noticed one growing here on the grounds yesterday, so had a real live specimen to compare with the description and drawings in the book.

Diane

That's it, Diane!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: see here

Yea Diane!!! Libby, she is right! Here is another interesting site, which tells me my plant is in bloom after all. I did see some white coming out of a few of the flowers. http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/pilewort.htm

It doesn't say anything about butterflies at this site, so I will deadhead it, and then do more research to decide if I want to let it grow or not. It's in a place I wouldn't mind it being there. Except I think it said it's an annual, so if I don't let any seeds grow, it won't be back next year anyway. Well, I'll have to decide over the weekend.

Now, is this the still the same weed the rest of you have also seen?

Thanks,
Sue

I would pull it, Sue. I work at a public garden and our gardeners are very sympathetic to our native wildflowers, butterflies and beneficials ... to the point where some beds look rather weedy at times due to stands of milkweed and such ... but this is one of the weeds they pull without hesitation, saying it's "nasty" and reseeds like crazy.

Hey, check this out:
http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?Spcode=EREHIEvHIE

This says Erectites is the ancient name of some species of groundsel.

Well, well, well!

Sue

Thanks, I'll pull it first thing in the morning, and it will not go to my compost pile, as I think it may have some seeds already.

Sue

Well, well, well indeed. Interesting isn't it.

Libby

I think so, Libby. You were right, too! Diane, is your work at the public garden all seasons? What do you do there? Post a new thread in the gallery side with some pics of it if you will, when you get a chance.

Thanks again for all the help, everyone, and yes, I did pull the weed this morning.

Sue

I'll be glad to, Sue. I feel so lucky to be able to work in this garden and share it with the public.

Yes, I work there year 'round, but rather than "hijack" this thread, will post anything further along with the photos in the Gallery.

Diane