Field Guide

Lamb’s quarters won’t win any beauty contests for its flowers, but it merits an award for being both a common garden weed as well as a nutritious leafy green valued around the world.

Virginia sneezeweed is the rarest of Missouri’s four sneezeweeds. A state endangered and federally threatened species, it occurs in about 60 sites in our southern Ozark counties, primarily in boggy, sinkhole pond habitats.

Common ragweed is instantly recognizable by its ornate, 2–3 times pinnately lobed, hairy leaves. You’ve probably seen it many times and wondered what it was.

Common cocklebur occurs statewide in open, disturbed, lowland habitats. It is a common weed in crop fields. It has wide, rough, coarsely toothed leaves; stout, often purple-speckled stems; and characteristic burs with hooked spines.

Violets, as a group, are fairly easy to identify, with their colorful five-petaled “faces” so welcome in springtime. Missouri has 17 species, and some are confusingly similar. This page introduces them as a group.

Ragworts, or groundsels, have several common names, and separating the different species can be a little tricky. But members of genus Packera, with their bright yellow daisy-like flowers, are distinctive as a group. Seven species have been recorded in Missouri.

Prairie ragwort is one of seven Packera species in our state. It grows in sunny, open habitats. Look for its clusters of bright yellow, daisylike flowers in May and June.

Purple poppy mallow, a native Missouri prairie wildflower, is a favorite of wildflower gardeners. It’s easy to care for and a showy choice for formal or informal landscaping.

Not the showiest of wildflowers, American bugleweed will catch your eye with its interesting geometry. The narrow, toothed leaves are opposite on the stalks and occur at right angles to the pair below.

Butterweed, one of Missouri’s seven species of ragworts or groundsels, is the only one that is an annual. It grows in colonies, at times covering acres of floodplain. Stems are heavily ridged and usually inflated or hollow. It blooms April–June.