Need plant identification - Ask Extension
I have a bunch of plants that's look like this that came up this summer in an area I planted with cosmos and sunflower seeds. They've not bloomed. Goo...
Knowledgebase
Need plant identification #811097
Asked September 16, 2022, 3:35 PM EDT
I have a bunch of plants that's look like this that came up this summer in an area I planted with cosmos and sunflower seeds. They've not bloomed. Google lens says it's ragweed but I'm not convinced. Can I get an identification and if any special handling needs to be done when I go to pull them?
Clackamas County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Yvette- Thanks for your great pictures of your mystery plant. INaturalist also identified it as ragweed, but when I looked farther, the second "guess" was a cosmos called "Cosmos sulphureus" or Yellow Cosmos. I'm attaching some pictures and if you scroll down you can see that the leaves are not far off. Hopefully, that is what it is and it will be a lovely fall bloomer!
https://pixabay.com/images/search/cosmos%20sulphureus/
If not, pull the ragweed out.
https://pixabay.com/images/search/cosmos%20sulphureus/
If not, pull the ragweed out.
That's interesting about the Cosmos secondary identification since it's in a bed I seeded with bright lights cosmos. When these plants came up, I noted that the foliage looked the same, but just so much bigger. Either way I guess it's ok to watch it to see what the flowers look like? Neither post a hazard with handling and disposing of later in the season, right? I was going to compost everything at the end of the season unless this is truly ragweed.
Hi Yvette- Neither plant will pose a problem to compost as long as you don't let them go to seed. If it turns out to be ragweed (I'll attach a picture) you would not want to spread the seed around when you use the compost or add it to someone else's problems if you use the city compost bins! And thanks for composting at the end of the season!
https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/field-crops/common-ragweed-ambrosia-artemisiifolia/
https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/field-crops/common-ragweed-ambrosia-artemisiifolia/
