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Little flowers sawtooth round leaves. enter image description here

Ex may have planted this... makes ne think of Grecian Windflowers ... but this is fall and they have just come up in the last month! Flowers are in bud stage. Want to get an ID before seeds start

If a weed indeed... best way to get rid of them? If not a weed... what are they?

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  • Hi there Wendy. Could you smoosh one of these leaves and take a whiff? Could be a wild geranium? Or a number of others. When the flowers open we should be able to know right away. I am glad you know the best time to get rid of weeds or plants you don't want around is before going to seed. You most certainly can wait until those flowers open. What kind of landscape do you have around you right now? What elevation are you? Zone?
    – stormy
    Oct 1, 2018 at 0:20
  • There is no geranium fragrance. I tried to pull one and got leaves only! Very concerned! How deep are those roots! Oct 1, 2018 at 7:28
  • I am in the foothills of the Rockies. About 5000 ft. The zone is 5b. Behind is pasture and some vacant lland. The vacant part is against my fence with a drainage ditch within it. I have neighbors on each side and neither have seen it in their yard. Oct 1, 2018 at 7:33
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    Having grown up on the front range & high, I plains can attest to this plant being quite common. It is non-native and as shown in the photo posted in the answer by Lorel C. is pretty aggressive. Also, it is edible & the seeds are high in protein, FWIW.
    – renesis
    Oct 1, 2018 at 17:12

1 Answer 1

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It looks a little like the dreaded Malva (Malva neglecta), although in my area (CA), it looks a teeny bit "greener" and less feral/dusty than your photo. But if it is a strain of Malva weed, definitely get it out ASAP. In our region, it is a perennial, and gets bigger and nastier every yr. Utah State posted a close up of the ferocious taproot one of them developed:enter image description here

image from https://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm/ornamental-pest-guide/weeds/w_common-mallow

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  • Oh baby! That is wicked! I tried to pull one and got a handful of leaves. At this point I would rather kill a good plant than have that beast to contend with! There are about 5 of them... not there until September and now pretty sizable! Oct 1, 2018 at 7:36
  • Thank you for your efforts and suggestions! I will get the shovel out today! Oct 1, 2018 at 7:37
  • This is definately the offender! Thanks for the link! Oct 1, 2018 at 7:40
  • You might be interested to know that all parts of Malva neglecta are edible, and the roots are said to be very tasty. Jul 19, 2020 at 4:14

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