I have this a few instances of this weird plant growing in my tree ring in
the front yard. Location is Southern New Jersey.

This weird plant is orange in color, and is cellulose construction is more
frail but reminiscent of the cellulose construction of styrofoam. It
apparently is doing a good job of breaking through the weed block I
installed just last year.

When it sprouts, it has some black gooey substance on the top. In full
bloom, from a distance, it resembles an upside down carrot. Any ideas?
Plant just looks plain evil.

Here are some pics:

http://www.bookac.com/Images/Plant/plant1.jpg
http://www.bookac.com/Images/Plant/plant2.jpg
http://www.bookac.com/Images/Plant/plant3.jpg