GPC2012G
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Two of them showed up in my yard this spring

I'm pretty new here, like 2 minutes ago. I had a plant show up in two places of my front yard this year and I've never seen them before. I live in a mobile home part and we are on the outskirts of town so we get a lot of bird activity. I'm assuming that a bird dropped a seed or the wind blew it in. When it first started to grow I thought it was a giant sunflower. As it got larger and the weather got better I discovered it is not. the leave that is pictured below is one of the smaller ones from the plant the mature leaves are appox. 4 to 7 inches across and 9 to 14 inches long. The plant is about 7 ft tall right now and still growing. The stalks are over an inch in diameter. the second pic is of the flowers on the plant. I don't know if it is a weed, plant or what? Can anyone please ID this for me
WIN_20160519_08_13_55_Pro.jpg
WIN_20160519_08_14_13_Pro.jpg
WIN_20160519_08_14_37_Pro.jpg

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Lindsaylew82
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Pokeweed. And it is a weed. That flower stalk will make rows and rows or juicy dark purple berries that the birds really like to eat....and then spread the seeds EVERYWHERE! It's Invasive here. It's a perennial that comes back from a seriously tough taproot.

They're really hard to get rid of here in SC. I pull them out best I can, and then drive a spike down the taproot several times.

I'm not suggesting this but.... Some people around here gather the really young plants, boil them several times, and then eat them. They *are* toxic.

GPC2012G
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Lindsey, thank you so much. I'm on my way out to pull them both up and get as much of the root as possible. I had luck with getting rid of heavenly Bamboo (nandinus) by getting as much of the root as possible and saturating the remaining root ends with full strength roundup. I'll see how these come up and take it from there.

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Lindsaylew82
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Yes...... Nandina...... I have a very persistent clump of that demon weed as well. I haven't given it any REAL effort though. ;)

Good luck!

GPC2012G
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nandinaberriesweb.jpg
nandinaberriesweb.jpg (49.99 KiB) Viewed 1647 times
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/g ... iesweb.jpg
They aren't a weed here in sunny Ca. Pardon me if I offend anyone but the idiots out here like them. Removed over 30 of them when I bought this place and still get suckers coming up every now and then, more often than not the roots lead back to one of y neighbors that thinks they're pretty. My neighbor and I removed a root mat from one that I couldn't fit in my carport. I had 4 of my neighbors loaning me their green waste can and I filled two of the parks green waste dumpsters one week.

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Lindsaylew82
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Yes, it was intentionally planted here as well.... I hate it.

purpleinopp
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Boiling water is a great way to kill unwanted roots. Free & non toxic.

A Happy Seedling
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Pokeweed. The berries are edible but do not swallow the seed. Young shoots quintuple boiled are edible. The rest is very toxic. However by crushing the berries and adding several things you can make purplish pinkish dye. I don't suggest you eat any of it though. Not worth the effort.

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Lindsaylew82
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I don't suggest you eat any of it though. Not worth the effort.
Sssssshhhhhh! You can't say that too loud around these parts! That'll get you dirty looks! :shock: :>

All joking aside, my nanny used to make poke salat. And it was so delicious! I'm not brave snout to make it and feed it to my children though. A coworker of mine brought it to our last thanksgiving potluck feast, and it was just like my nanny's! So delicious!

Btw.... I'm not endorsing eating toxic plants! (But it was sooooooooooo good!)

A Happy Seedling
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Haha good for you. I'm not risking it. We do make dye which looks fantastic used on cotton flannel.



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