trying to identify a yellow flowering weed (?)

[griffon]

A friend had a weed/volunteer plant in her flower beds last year and
it is starting to come back up and she says it appears to have spread
out somewhat and is shooting up around the place where it was last
year. She says the plant actually looks similar to some kind of phlox
or loosestrife, particularly the latter in the blooms. The blooms are
smaller than those of yellow loosestrife and there are not very many
blooms either. That is about all she can tell me. I have no ideas
but if anyone has suggestions, I will send them to her and maybe she
can identify it. Thanks.

[paghat]

In article >, griffon wrote:

> A friend had a weed/volunteer plant in her flower beds last year and
> it is starting to come back up and she says it appears to have spread
> out somewhat and is shooting up around the place where it was last
> year. She says the plant actually looks similar to some kind of phlox
> or loosestrife, particularly the latter in the blooms. The blooms are
> smaller than those of yellow loosestrife and there are not very many
> blooms either. That is about all she can tell me. I have no ideas
> but if anyone has suggestions, I will send them to her and maybe she
> can identify it. Thanks.

Well, loosestrife is certainly invasive & spreads in just that manner.

-paghat

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

[Pam]

griffon wrote:

> A friend had a weed/volunteer plant in her flower beds last year and
> it is starting to come back up and she says it appears to have spread
> out somewhat and is shooting up around the place where it was last
> year. She says the plant actually looks similar to some kind of phlox
> or loosestrife, particularly the latter in the blooms. The blooms are
> smaller than those of yellow loosestrife and there are not very many
> blooms either. That is about all she can tell me. I have no ideas
> but if anyone has suggestions, I will send them to her and maybe she
> can identify it. Thanks.

It could be Lamiastrum galeobdolon, aka yellow archangel. It is a very
aggressive and invasive lamium relative that will rapidly colonize any
shady, moist area. See if this link looks anything like what your friend
has - if it does, she needs to get rid of it ASAP. Sorry - not the best
picture, but it gets the idea across.
http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/176/1-lam-gab-fl.jpg

pam - gardengal

[griffon]

Pam wrote:

>It could be Lamiastrum galeobdolon, aka yellow archangel. It is a very
>aggressive and invasive lamium relative that will rapidly colonize any
>shady, moist area. See if this link looks anything like what your friend
>has - if it does, she needs to get rid of it ASAP. Sorry - not the best
>picture, but it gets the idea across.
>http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/176/1-lam-gab-fl.jpg

She said that looks nothing like it. Although I think that plant is
somewhat pretty. Hmm. ;)

She also said that the plant "looks like asparagus on the stalk"
although I am not entirely sure what she meant. It certainly isn't
ringing any bells with me.

[griffon]

(paghat) wrote:

>In article >, griffon wrote:
>
>> A friend had a weed/volunteer plant in her flower beds last year and
>> it is starting to come back up and she says it appears to have spread
>> out somewhat and is shooting up around the place where it was last
>> year. She says the plant actually looks similar to some kind of phlox
>> or loosestrife, particularly the latter in the blooms. The blooms are
>> smaller than those of yellow loosestrife and there are not very many
>> blooms either. That is about all she can tell me. I have no ideas
>> but if anyone has suggestions, I will send them to her and maybe she
>> can identify it. Thanks.
>
>Well, loosestrife is certainly invasive & spreads in just that manner.

She said that it is much less profuse in bloom and the small yellow
blooms on this weed lack the red centers that loosestrife has.
Although I asked her about the red, perhaps there is another variety
of loosestrife without that coloration? At any rate, I should have a
picture of it soon, maybe that will help.

[Sunny]

On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 21:36:34 -0500, griffon >
wrote:

>A friend had a weed/volunteer plant in her flower beds last year and
>it is starting to come back up and she says it appears to have spread
>out somewhat and is shooting up around the place where it was last
>year. She says the plant actually looks similar to some kind of phlox
>or loosestrife, particularly the latter in the blooms. The blooms are
>smaller than those of yellow loosestrife and there are not very many
>blooms either. That is about all she can tell me. I have no ideas
>but if anyone has suggestions, I will send them to her and maybe she
>can identify it. Thanks.

This sounds kind of like a weed we had growing in an unused planter
box. We thought it looked nice so we left it alone. But then we found
out it was Wild Parsnip, a biennial that happens to be phototoxic
(juices of the plant are toxic when exposed to sunlight.). My husband
cut it down with a weed whacker, and he got some of the juice from the
plants splashed on his arm and ankle. He then went out into the sun,
and the juice acted like a flesh-eating acid. He still has scars from
the burns.

It resembles Queen Anne's Lace, only yellow. Be careful, if that is
what it is. Get rid of it carefully on a cloudy day, and burn it or
seal it up in bags. Remove the dirt, or cover it with plastic sheeting
to prevent it from resprouting. Nasty stuff.

On the other hand, it could be wild mustard, which is harmless and
pleasant to look at. Hard to tell without a photo.