Ask the Expert: what might this plant be?
Foud it in my wildflower garden next to False Sunflowers and New England
Asters. Might be a weed, Earl

Plant Expert Reply:

I believe it is a Acalypha virginica (Virginia threeseed mercury).  It is considered a weed with mild allergen properties.  It is a member of the Euphorbiaceae family.

Just a side note:  This plant is a sister to a houseplant called Chenille plant (Acalypha hispida).  Which just goes to show you one man’s weed is another man’s treasure.

Ask the Expert: what kind of weed is this?
My dad has a garden that has been growing an invasive ground cover weed that has clover shaped leaves with tiny white “flowers”. He has sprayed with all sorts of weed killers and nothing seems to work. It seems to stay only in the garden and has not crept onto the grass. It’s very viney like.. grows like a carpet. Has been tilled repeatedly.. he left the garden area unplanted for a year to see if that would help get rid of it but it keeps coming back. They seem to grow from the root. When pulled from the garden they always seem wet even when there has been no moisture applied to the garden at all. He suspects that it started in a small area and was spread by use of the tiller. They grow very close to the ground only.. max of 2″ inches tall. He has tried to pull them many times and when he does the base of the weed (green) will pull off from a white, slippery, more solid structure. I do not have a photo available at this time but if you are not able to identify it I can post a picture soon for you to see. Any suggestions are welcome! Thank you for your time! Please let me know if a picutre is needed. My poor dad, an avid gardner, is completely stumped! I hope you can help! Thank you!  Misty McCollough

Plant Expert Reply:

It is difficult to make an identification just from the description you have given.  So I found some pictures of plants that could possibly be your dad’s problem.  Please take a look at them and let me know which you think look the most like his.  Once we idenitify the plant, I will help figure a way to get rid of the problem.

Ask the Expert: please ID plant
I want to know if this plant should be in my planter or not.  I’m afraid that it may have been seeded by an airborn weed.  I can’t taste anything with the leaf.  The plants are 4-6 inches high. Elaine

Plant Expert Reply:

I believe the plant is called Carpet Weed (Mollugo verticillata) and is something you do not want.  You would be correct that the seed probably blew into your pot.

Ask the Expert: weed or what?

We’ve lived in our home for 2 years- the previous owner planted an extensive perennial garden in 2004 or 2005. I’m still trying to recognize the perennials each spring… so I don’t weed out the wrong things. What could this be?

I remember Hibiscus in the general area last year, and haven’t seen it this year. Could it be? The leaves don’t look right. Aside from the large cluster in the photo, two individual stems of this have popped up several feet away (where they definitely were not located last year). any help would be appreciated… amber

Ask the Expert: what is this plant

this plant is all over my yard I thought it was strawberry but its not. its really dark with a reddish tint.

I Believe this is a Common Mallow (Malva neglecta)

I found this Common Mallow Photo on a Michigan State University site. You can see the similarity in the leaf.

Ronald Calhoun in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University supplied this picture. In fact, it comes from the MSU Turf Weed.net program. This is a wonderful resource for weed identification and was developed to assist MSU turf students earn the key identification characteristics of common and not-so-common turfgrass weeds found in Michigan and the midwest. Ronald has compiled a variety of useful weed identification pictures including wild strawberry, henbit and Carolina geranium.