A very interesting plant???

[Smiles Jr.]

What is it?
This volunteer showed up in one of my raised beds. I have watered it and watched it grow for almost 4 months. It has small yellow flowers, large heart-shaped leaves and the seed pods have very sharp needles. It's about 4 ft tall.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

It's called velvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti. It can become invasive if not kept an eye on.

 

[Zeedman]

... and if the seeds make it to the ground, they can remain dormant (but alive) forever. They show up here in construction sites, where the soil has been undisturbed for 10 years or longer.

 

[ducks4you]

Pull out the seedheads and burn or toss in the trash. Use gloves. I picked up a nice new pair of goat leather gloves yesterday at Rural King.

Noble Outfitters Leather Work Glove - Goatskin 51030-011

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Wait for a rain, then pull out by the roots. Invasive, but there are weeds that are more invasive than this one.

 

[flowerbug]

we've seen it pop up here but i will remove it because we sure don't need any more weeds trying to take over. the pods are interesting. seeds look like they'll stick to things to travel.

 

[Zeedman]

Although the seeds are persistent, it's not really difficult, as weeds go... pretty easy to remove. I planted a couple fruit trees this year, and where I planted one of them, some velvet leaf came up. No worries, since that area will all return to lawn. It's not a bad SHTF plant either, if we ever again have a TP shortage.